You have mail... is there anyone there?

Let me begin with an apology. Sorry for every person that has had to wait more than 24 hours for a response to an email you have sent me. Genuinely, I am sorry. Let's not go into how long you had to wait. Excuse me for this, I now understand how it feels.

Now. My rant.

What has happened to electronic mail? Has someone removed the power switch! Originally the main sales pitch for email was its lightening fast speed, arriving on someones desktop within a matter of seconds. Fortunately, I believe I know the answer. It comes down to prioritisation.

Last year I had the pleasure of attending a course in Time Management and Personal Effectiveness. One of the main lessons I took from from this, is to deal with things in the order you receive them. I have worked hard to put this into practice and it has made an enormous difference. Especially, when it comes to email, I have noticed how easy it is to forget an email, that you say to yourself, 'oh I'll come back to that one'. Within a day another mountain of distractions and emails are bombarding you. Facebook, Google+ and Twitter vying for your attention. Then you have texts, phone calls, TV, Radio and finally humans. Everyone asking for your attention. It is overwhelming.

So, what is the result. Well, I can only speak personally, until I gain my omnipresence. Disappointment, Frustration. Lower mind thinking. Extra distractions. I have a system of lists for all my tasks. I number each with a priority of importance and then tick them off as I go along. My mistake and one that this challenge has arisen for me is, I need a follow up list to check on responses. Otherwise, its a couple of days and I realise my well planned system begins to fracture. I feel distracted and suddenly I begin to wonder, what happened with that thing I requested, suggested or recommended to that client.

My solution. Understand that due to the very busy lives we are all leading, accept that email has become a little slower in its old age. Send a friendly reminder saying, hey just checking in, 'did you have a moment to look at my last email?' Also, using a tool like Boomerang might just be the solution. A free tool that you can integrate with your Gmail account, that will resend the email when no response has being received after a time period, that you define. Make your plans to allow for longer turnaround on communications. The most successful method is to ring people to remind them about your email.

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

+plugMEDIA.net is a digital media and marketing agency that looks at how technology impacts and influences groups and communities. We both investigate, design and offer a range of services and training to meet your needs. You can find out more about what we do by email me sam@plugmedia.net