When Shouldn’t You Send Email?
Sometimes sending an email is nothing but a time waster; learn how you can save time by not emailing.
Sometimes we experience the ultimate irony: the very things we believe will help us be more productive are the very things that cause us to become less productive. Like the way I process my inbox. I often am so intent on getting through my inbox that I make more work for myself in the long run.
When Shouldn’t You Send Email?
I needed to get into the theater where we’re putting on Jesus Christ Superstar. I emailed our fabulous producer (Hi, Rosser!) and asked how I could get in. Later, while processing my inbox, Rosser’s message came in: “Get the keys from the campus activities office.” I then remembered I’m not a student! I started to email back to ask whether I needed to be a student for them to let me in. Halfway through composing the email, I realized in horror that in “email mode,” I automatically act as though we’re having a conversation. We’re not. My conversational email was actually making more work for everyone. It would be fastest to just call the safety office and ask, since I had to call anyway for the key. But because I was so intent on handling my next inbox message, I stayed in email mode and almost made more work for me and Rosser.
What twisted, perverse, dastardly evil had almost seduced me down the primrose path of working more and doing less? It was none other than my very desire to get through my inbox quickly.
How Can Sending Email Cause More Work?
When we’re slogging through our inbox, taking action on a message and deleting it feels productive. Over time, it becomes very easy to email a single sentence—as if we’re having a conversation—and feel as though we’ve moved things forward. I was about to email Rosser a question that would give me the mental satisfaction of feeling like I had done something useful. Then the ball would be in Rosser’s court, so I would be morally justified in doing nothing until I heard back. FAIL!
When you give someone else control by asking them a question, it has several time-wasting effects. You get stalled, because now you can’t move forward until they reply. Look closely at their life. Do you really want your success to depend on their timely response?
You now have to track the fact that you’re waiting for a response. Why is the entire cast standing outside the theater looking like they want to kill someone? Oh, right. Because I’m waiting for Rosser—who probably responded and I just forgot to check my email. You really don’t want to piss off a group of angry actors who are carrying a cross and stakes and have been practicing crucifixion for the last two months.
Handing off a simple task also keeps the task open instead of completing it, so you’re deprived of the chance to have a celebratory Oreo Ice Cream Cake. And it takes a lot more time. Just typing “Will they let me in if I’m not a student?” takes more time than asking it out loud.
How Can You Save Time By Not Emailing
Once I realized that email had seduced me into making more work for myself by passing the buck when I could do it myself, I noticed I do this everywhere. It’s always with small things, but those things add up.
Getting directions. I’m forever asking people to send me directions.. For goodness’ sake, when there’s no one to ask, it takes me 30 seconds with Google Maps, Mapquest, or Telenav to get a map plus driving directions. And by the way, paper maps work just fine, too.
Looking up reference information. I’m always emailing people asking stuff like, “Do you know how to tell if a toad is male or female?” In the time it takes me to email two dozen people and deal with the strange responses and restraining orders, I can just Google “toad sexing” and have my answer.
Finding phone numbers. When Dawn says, “Just call Daniel,” I love to write back and say “I don’t have his number handy. Could you send it to me real quick?” I don’t have Daniel’s number handy? Really? I own two iPod Touches, a Blackberry, a laptop, and two desktop computers. All of them synchronize over “the cloud.” I am never more than 13.6 inches away from some device that has Daniel’s phone number. Perhaps the truth is, I’m just too lazy to look, and would rather make Dawn do the work.
Today as you process your inbox, notice when you’re dashing off a quick reply because you think you’re handling something when you really aren’t. Then rather than sending something back to someone else, do it yourself if that’s easier and quicker in the long run.
Getting through your inbox quickly seems very productive, but as we’ve seen, sometimes it isn’t. That is irony! Instead, make less work by taking the simple action that would move you forward.
Work Less, Do More, and have a Great Life!
Woman on Computer image courtesy of Shutterstock
About the Author
Stever Robbins was the host of the podcast Get-it-Done Guy from 2007 to 2019. He is a graduate of W. Edward Deming’s Total Quality Management training program and a Certified Master Trainer Elite of NLP. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS in Computer Sciences from MIT.
