Managing Email: Pick Up the Phone

Image by bkajino via Flickr

Drowning in email?  Boy, I understand!  Today I decided to buckle down and tackle my inbox.  You know what else I did?  I created a label (I use Google Apps for email) that is for “calls to make”.  Why would I do such a thing?  Cuz email is out of control, and sometimes it’s easier to just make a call.

So, should you call or email?  Here’s a handful of reasons why I pick up the phone (or Skype) instead of perpetuating the email flood:

• I need to talk it out.  Sometimes you gotta share more than a “yes” or “no” to an email, or work out a problem.  That may be better handled with a 3 minute phone call.
• I want to talk to a human. Let’s face it, we are getting more and more connected while being more unconnected at the same time.  Weird?  Yes.  True?  Yes.  It’s not that I don’t LOVE Twitter, but sometimes I want to actually hear a human voice.  *ring ring*
• I don’t wanna play email tag. Uh. Uh. Call me old fashioned but sometimes I just don’t want to manage the email conversation thread.  I want to ask a question, have a conversation and move forward.  Period.
• Shake it up a little. Email is the standard for communication these days, good or bad.  It’s a valuable tool if used in the right way.  Sometimes a girl just needs a little, so shake it up a bit and pick up the phone.