1 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to avoid a few email 4 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: mistakes that can cost you a lot of time in 5 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:25,440 Speaker 1: the long run. Email is a relatively recent technology. Forty 6 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: years ago, it was confined mostly to government and academic settings. 7 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,479 Speaker 1: Now it's ubiquitous, and it shapes the way we spend 8 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 1: our time. One study from a few years ago found 9 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: that office workers spent twenty percent of their days on email, 10 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: which is about eleven hours a week. While that might 11 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,319 Speaker 1: not sound too bad, the problem is that people tend 12 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:50,479 Speaker 1: to check email frequently, meaning that all other time feels 13 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: chopped up. With so much time devoted to email, you'd 14 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: think people would be better at it, but we still 15 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: make all kinds of mistakes. Today's episode is about a 16 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: few rules that can help you be a better email citizen. First, 17 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:11,399 Speaker 1: be careful who you copy before you reply all or 18 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,479 Speaker 1: add a new person to a thread. Look at all 19 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,319 Speaker 1: the names on the email. Scroll all the way down 20 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: to the bottom of the chain to be sure that 21 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: anything being forwarded is cool. To forward to everyone listed, 22 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:30,479 Speaker 1: Assume nothing that person your potential new clients see seed 23 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: might not be the client's assistant. It might be a 24 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: competing vendor who's now got all your information because you 25 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 1: hit reply all Oops. Or maybe someone made an edgy 26 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: joke and then the email thread got turned into something 27 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: else and then got forwarded to other folks who will 28 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: not be amused by the humor, or at least won't 29 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 1: understand the context. When in doubt, delete or start a 30 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:04,559 Speaker 1: new email chain. Second, don't use sarcasm without alerting people. 31 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: Sarcasm and humor in general can be fun ways to 32 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 1: bond in person, they're also almost impossible to convey in 33 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: the written word. One study found that whether people were 34 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: emailing friends or strangers, the people receiving the emails were 35 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:25,359 Speaker 1: wildly inaccurate in determining what was sarcastic and what was serious. 36 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: This can go wrong in all sorts of ways. The 37 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 1: person receiving your message might think you're being deliberately mean 38 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: rather than making a joke, So don't be subtle. Either 39 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: put in the word sarcasm or put a smiley face 40 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 1: next to anything that should be interpreted lightly. If emojis 41 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: don't feel right, then don't make your joke in the 42 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 1: first place, save it for the in person meeting, when 43 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: your comedy act is far more likely to shine. Third, 44 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: and a related point, be more positive than you think 45 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:04,359 Speaker 1: is necessary. Email in general reads negatively. It's unclear why 46 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,360 Speaker 1: this is. Possibly when we talk in person, we send 47 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:13,080 Speaker 1: reassuring nonverbal cues that the relationship matters and we're not 48 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: trying to be aggressive. But these cues are completely absent 49 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: in the written form. That means that if you write 50 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: the way you normally talk, what you write will be 51 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: interpreted more harshly than if you're in person. So over 52 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: the years, I've learned to write the email i'd naturally send, 53 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:34,519 Speaker 1: then go back and make it look like it came 54 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: from a happier, bubblier version of Laura. Even a short 55 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: greeting such as I hope you had a great weekend 56 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: tour I was so glad to hear from you can 57 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 1: go a long way toward making the emails seem more 58 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: positive if you don't intend to flame someone. Finally, there's 59 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: the question of when you're sending the email. The original 60 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: genius of email was that it was a synchronous communication. 61 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: I write an email at a time that works for me, 62 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: You read and respond at a time that works for you. Alas, 63 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: we've now devolved into a situation where email is treated 64 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: with the urgency of a phone call, but people email 65 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 1: with a prolificacy they never manage on a telephone In 66 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: any case, this has some important ramifications. If you're in management, 67 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: you should understand that anyone who reports to you will 68 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: feel like she should respond to your emails as soon 69 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:34,719 Speaker 1: as possible. That's human nature. But maybe your email wasn't urgent. 70 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: Maybe you're emailing at ten pm because you like to 71 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 1: catch up on work after your kids go to bed. 72 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: You might want to save the email as a draft 73 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,479 Speaker 1: and send it out at eight am. You can also 74 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: tell your employees that you generally don't expect them to 75 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: respond at odd hours. You'll call if you need them. 76 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: This respect for boundaries means you'll have employees who are 77 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 1: happier and more recharged. So how will you be more 78 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,280 Speaker 1: careful with your emails? It's worth the time to think 79 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 1: it through. When we talk, the words are generally gone, 80 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: but an email can last forever. Best to get it 81 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: right in the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks for listening, 82 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:28,479 Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody. 83 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me 84 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with 85 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod 86 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D. 87 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast 88 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: podcast at iHeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is 89 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I 90 00:05:54,120 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a 91 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,479 Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I 92 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 93 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.