Signs
There was this post/blog/article somewhere with a list of anxiety symptoms at work, and one of them was spending exorbitant amounts of time getting email messages just right. Maybe it was signs of introversion but shit who cares. It's me to a 'T'.
What exactly is exorbitant, excessive? If it takes an hour and a half to respond to the original question, the questions that may arise from that answer, plus the background and reasons behind decisions, 90 minutes could seem like a rush job. Because of course you're re-reading the thing after every edit to make sure your whatsis agree with your thingamajigs, and you didn't pluralize or there/their/they're anything. And before sending it you save and take a pee break because when you come back and read it again it's already started fading in your memory and you have a nice new perspective that comes with a relatively empty bladder.
Then there's the time it takes to analyze your response against the recipients' multiplicitous personality types. Does Jane stop reading after a sentence or two, skipping details to find deliverables, the milestones? Does Bob want to know everything that might happen for every proposed course of action? Does Philip need a fucking meeting because he can't be bothered to read or respond to email? Is Constance going to ignore the entire thing because "email" instead of "e-mail" and come by my desk? Nooooooooooo
Jesus please help me, sometimes an email is just another domino falling to hit the next.
Thank you for your time.
What exactly is exorbitant, excessive? If it takes an hour and a half to respond to the original question, the questions that may arise from that answer, plus the background and reasons behind decisions, 90 minutes could seem like a rush job. Because of course you're re-reading the thing after every edit to make sure your whatsis agree with your thingamajigs, and you didn't pluralize or there/their/they're anything. And before sending it you save and take a pee break because when you come back and read it again it's already started fading in your memory and you have a nice new perspective that comes with a relatively empty bladder.
Then there's the time it takes to analyze your response against the recipients' multiplicitous personality types. Does Jane stop reading after a sentence or two, skipping details to find deliverables, the milestones? Does Bob want to know everything that might happen for every proposed course of action? Does Philip need a fucking meeting because he can't be bothered to read or respond to email? Is Constance going to ignore the entire thing because "email" instead of "e-mail" and come by my desk? Nooooooooooo
Jesus please help me, sometimes an email is just another domino falling to hit the next.
Thank you for your time.
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