Written July 2007
by Cliff Feldwick
So when do you just throw your hands up and say “enough”? When the magic number hits several hundred, or several thousand? I’m talking unread e-mails, of course. If you’re using Outlook, take a look at the lower left of the screen – how many do you have now (mine’s at 910 unread)? Stuff to be ignored, maybe, but that usually gets deleted fairly fast, so these were things that might have been useful or maybe needed to be followed up on later in the week, and now have cobwebs on them larger than the office.
Just how old is the oldest one? You can click on the “Received” header to have your messages sorted by date, if they’re not already, and scroll down to the bottom. It usually corresponds to when you got your latest computer. If you like, you can also click on the “From” header to sort them that way – useful if you decide to get rid of all the messages from your ex, your boss, etc.
But what if you decide to just give up? When weeding just won’t do any more? When you’ve decided that any attempts to catch up would be futile?
Declare e-mail bankruptcy
Just as bankruptcy clears the decks and allows you to start over, so does a declaration of e-mail bankruptcy. Usually sent as a blast e-mail to everyone in the address book, or by collecting the addresses of all those un-answered, it declares that you hereby have lost hope in catching up, so anyone expecting a reply on a previous e-mail is out of luck. It says “if you really want an answer, better send the question again, because I’m not going back into that mess”. By the way, don’t forget to send the message to yourself, with all the recipient’s addresses in the BCC field, so you don’t spread everyone’s address to everyone (just being polite).
Often accompanied by an address change, to clear out the spammers – at least for a little while – who now have you in their lists as well, it’s a desperate measure, and not one without repercussions.
Just as a real bankruptcy will spoil your reputation for some time to come, expect some flak from people who now have to cover your disorganization (to quote their usual complaint) by starting over, often accompanied by their tips for keeping up to date. Joy
But guess what? A lot of times you will discover that “urgent” things were anything but, and that “must have” answer didn’t really affect anything after all.
Some years ago, the Operations Manager where I worked asked for a weekly summary of things in, things out and why from both myself, as head of the engineering group (scary, eh?) and the chief estimator. I faithfully started reporting every week on what had happened, with a list of jobs and how long they had been in-house, etc. It quickly became a club to beat me to death. The chief estimator, a wiser and happier man, took the position that “If he really wants it, he’ll ask again. It could just be a reaction to today’s events”, and didn’t start the process. Guess what – he never asked again. But the club had been offered by me, and was happily accepted.
So it could be with your e-mails. Do they really need that reply? Or is everyone in the office playing CYA? Bankruptcy will quickly help you find out – maybe a good reason to try it.
Speaking of …
Speaking of dysfunctional offices, the art of sending messages or spreadsheets to other people just before a meeting (bing – in your court, buddy) has a powerful ally in the Blackberry. No longer allowing you to hide behind the “I was out of my office all day at a clients”, it allows the offending party to achieve “what do you mean you didn’t get my message” nirvana.
Almost as offensive, but more subtle, is sending the message the evening before. This assumes the recipient has no other life or anything better to do than to look at your note after hours.
Dysfunctional
When did handicapped tags become a free pass to park badly? How often have you noticed cars parked almost sideways in the reserved spaces, often taking up two, or even directly over the hatched lines that are meant to keep a clear area for van access? Hey folks, think of what would happen if someone as sloppy as you got there first – you’d be upset.
And as long as I’m in trouble anyway
Is it OK to buy a “family size” bag of Doritos if you’re single? And how much news would a Cheney choose if a Cheney could choose news?
Cliff Feldwick is president of Riverside Computer Consultants, and offers data recovery, network set-ups and basic computer problem solving, when not staying out of dysfunctional offices. He may be reached at 410-880-0171 or at cliff@feldwick.com.