When you have a desk job, email is a necessary evil and being on the receiving end of thousands of messages every month means some poorly crafted ones will undoubtedly be flung your way. It’s something you can count on and then laugh about later. (Well, hopefully.) A memorable inbox offender of mine was a superior colleague who would repeatedly sign off with (not in reference to dinner or dog food) an enthusiastic, “CHOW!” 

Last week I came across this article and laughed as I read through the 7 Types of People You Encounter over Email. I’ve probably been guilty of doing all seven of these myself at one point or another, especially #4. In fact, that’s how I really learned the definition of verbose – because somebody called me out once. As I reflected on my former corporate life, it was validating to read another person’s account of the Selective Listener, as that seemed to happen to me all the time.

Now that I’m not sitting at a desk for 8+ hours a day, I need a better system to manage my email as I feel like I’ve really been bad about getting back to people lately. In my corporate life, I gave myself a little rule that if the reply would take under a minute to draft and send, I would do it the first time I opened a message. I also tried not to open any email more than three times. If I opened a message for the third time and hadn’t yet replied – I would do my best to buckle down and respond. I’d love to try out any tips or tricks if you have any. Do share! xo

[Featured image by Ashley Ella Design]