What Good Is Having Email If You Rarely Look At It?

Is it like the tree that falls in the forest? If nobody heard the crash, was that sound ever made?

Yesterday I got involved with a conversation on FaceBook about email and your inbox. Let’s get more specific. How about unread messages in your inbox? To your left is a partial screen shot of this conversation. I have “fuzzed” the names and faces to protect the innocent 🙂

One guy actually has close to 13,000 unread emails! Incredible! Another goes on to say that he has over 56,000 but does not specify how many of those are unread. He further states that “if it’s a month old and I haven’t read it and no one followed up or hollered, I delete it”. Another gentleman, not on this screen shot, basically said that if somebody wants to get ahold of them, they know to text or call. Certainly, this got me to thinking. Not only did it truly open my eyes to the real world, it also encouraged me to examine certain phenomena that has a tendency to piss me off real bad 🙂 Continue reading “What Good Is Having Email If You Rarely Look At It?”

Turning Email Into A Tool Not A Chore

I’ve been reading a lot of articles lately talking about the impending doom of email, at least as we know it. Love it or hate it, I believe that some form of this communication medium will be with us for many years to come. Certainly, products like the soon to be released Google Wave may change the way we look at, and use, electronic messaging. For now, for me, email is indispensable.

A little background may help. I work out of my home and have two positions. Standing and sitting (smile). I am an independent sales contractor for Lytle Signs and, while they have an office here in the Boise area, the company headquarters are 125 miles away in Twin Falls, ID. 90% of all design, estimating, manufacturing, and accounting takes place in Twin Falls. Also, at least 50% of my client base is not located in the Boise area. Consequently, almost all of my correspondence is done via email. As is a large percentage of my general communication. Continue reading “Turning Email Into A Tool Not A Chore”