And neither is any other email.
I got my first email addresses in middle school. I had a Hotmail account and I think the other one was a Lycos. Wow, I sound like a caveman.
I’m older now and those accounts have long since expired, but I’m sitting here racking my brain with the question: From then until today, have I ever received an email so urgent that if I wouldn’t have read it within 24 hours of receiving it I would have been screwed?
And I really can’t think of any. (There miiiiiiiight have been some business stuff along the way. Nothing comes to mind, but I can’t totally rule that out.)
But I still check my email 30 times a day because I believe everything is urgent (well…the truth is, I check that many times because when there’s something new from someone or some company I like I get an emotional pop).
Email is never urgent! Let’s start checking it less.
You know what is much more often urgent? Phone calls. You and I have both received many urgent ones.
But most people these days hate getting phone calls! They say “if they really need me they’ll leave a voice mail”…and then go back to checking their email, waiting for the next “urgent” message to roll in.
If anything answer the phone calls and stop checking email a bazillion times a day.
p.s. When you send an email, even an important one, and you don’t hear back for 4 hours or 6 or 24, you don’t think the other person is a bad person. You think they must be kinda busy and its taking them a day to respond, it’s all good.
So when you don’t read and respond immediately to an email, they’re not thinking bad of you either!
p.p.s. Make no mistake, as I am preaching at you, I am preaching at me.
p.p.p.s. If someone doesn’t respond within 3 days I think they hate me. It used to be 3 hours, so I’m getting better.
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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com