F2F Class Notes 14th October (Celeste) [1]
Homework for the next class: Finish reading the article below. If there are new words that you don’t know, look them up in a dictionary. If they still don’t make sense, talk about them in your next class.
How to Email
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/09/brevity-in-email/501986/
I’m sure my approach has made some people hate me, because I come off curt. But if everyone thought about email in the same way, what I’m suggesting wouldn’t be rude. Here are the basic guidelines that are working for me and, so, I propose for all of the world to adopt immediately:
No signoff.
Best? Cheers? Thanks?
None of the above. You can write your name if it feels too naked or abrupt not to have something down there. But it shouldn’t, and it wouldn’t if it were the norm.
No greeting.
Don’t waste time considering if “Dear,” or “Hey” or “[name]!” is appropriate. Just get right into it. Write the recipient’s name if you must. But most people already know their names. Like they already know your name.
Greetings and closings are relics of the handwritten missive that persist only as matters of, ostensibly, formality. Foregoing them can seem curt or impolite. But it’s the opposite. Long, formal emails are impolite.
Brevity signals respect. Three sentences or fewer.
An email is an imposition on a person’s time. Writing to someone is saying I know you have a finite amount of time and attention today, and in life, and I’m going to take some of it.
Undue formality only wastes more of that time. And it wastes the writer’s time in worrying about exactly how formal to be.
Rarely does an email require more than three sentences. If it does, consider calling or getting together in person. Social interaction is healthy, and more time spent in the inbox isn’t likely to be.
Don’t let the inbox become a to-do list.
Our novelty-driven brains tend to give priority to whatever email is newest, unread, at the top of the pile. Even if it’s some quotidian thing. While we leave important conversations (or other non-email tasks) unattended.
Remember always that newness does not signal priority.
Aspiring to inbox zero—an empty inbox, perfectly clean and organized and contained—is for most people some mythical idea. The world seems to be conspiring to keep it from happening. And obsessing over it can be totally counterproductive if it means you give priority to emails that don’t deserve your attention at the moment.
Check only two or three times a day.
If your job allows, obviously. (And most do, if you insist on it.)
I used to check more like 100 times. Many American workers spend a total of six hours a day in their inbox, according to one calculation (which seems high to me). Others have put it closer to two hours, though that doesn’t factor in the time lost during switching tasks. Every time you check your email, you lose an additional 30 seconds or so that it takes to refocus your attention on whatever you were doing.
When you do check, plow through that inbox.
The people who might need you more urgently should know to call or text you.
etiquette (et – tick – it )- conventional requirements as to social behavior;proprieties of conduct as established in any classor community or for any occasion.
brevity – to be brief
virtue ( vir -chew ) – sth that is important
curt – brief, short, concise, rudely short
I’m sure my approach has made some people hate me, because I come off curt. – …. I seem to be rude or short
eg. Sometimes, I can come off very angry, when really I am just hungry.
norm = normal
abrupt = short, quick
relic – sth ancient, old, from the past
missive n. -a written message; letter.
persist – to continue in a certain way
ostensibly (aw – sten – sib – lee ) – evident / appearing / obvious
overdue = over the date of sth being due
eg. I borrowed a book from the library 3 months ago, it is long overdue.
down with sth = cool with or ok with sth
blunt = direct, short, to the point
finite ( FY- Night ) – measurable, countable
Comments are closed.