My email signature reads as follows:
Please note: I process email once daily, and will respond within one business day. Here’s why. If your message is urgent, please call or text me.
Why?
- A phone is a terrible device for emailing. Using a computer is roughly 10x faster for reading and responding to my email.
- 95% of personal email is not urgent. My friends, family, and clients know that if it is urgent, there is a way to reach me . . . and it isn’t email.
- Compartmentalizing email is efficient. Email processing deserves a discrete scheduled time each day – and no more.
- We prioritize what we schedule. I block my calendar for the people and projects that are important. Email shouldn’t intrude on those priorities.
- Email can be distracting. If I enabled email notifications on my computer and phone, I’d be interrupted 30-100 times on a given day. Why would you do that to yourself?
- It sets healthy expectations. If your sphere knows that you respond to email daily (except when you set an “I’m not responding to email until XXXX” auto-responder), but that you’re not a slave to it, they’ll know when to call you, when to email you, and within what timeframe they can expect a response. That’s better for everyone.
So if you want to reach me, email me. If you don’t receive an auto-responder, you can expect a prompt, but not instantaneous, response. And that’s good for both of us.