my masterpiece, v1.0

I manage both the receipt and sending of an extraordinary number of emails a day both at work and in my personal life. I’m constantly looking for ways to streamline and simplify what needs to happen with each email, and I finally found some truly fascinating insights courtesy of Gmail Meter. I ran a report of my personal email for March and learned:

Daily traffic looks something like “lunch break; let’s all email”:

Traffic is heavy at the beginning of the week:

And I either jump to reply or sit and think on it:

I think that there is a LOT to be learned from this and the rest of the report. Since email and communications are such a huge part of the day everyday, this is likely going to become a valuable tool for me and, I would imagine, many others. 

If you use it, do share your results! I’m curious how I stack up!

[Note: I wrote the below article for WECREATE NYC. They’re a super cool bunch of innovators interested in generating lasting economy and social change. Enjoy and share!]

By Jen Bokoff, a Brooklyn-based non-profit professional dedicated to facilitating discussions around philanthropy, sociology, and DIY ideas.

New York is inarguably a fast-paced city. From the way we walk to the embarassing dating websites for overworked professionals, a true “New Yorker” races around and multitasks like no suburbanite could ever imagine. We are a culture of conviction, of action, and of planning, where taking time to respond in a conversation could mean a missed opportunity to attend a meeting at the United Nations or  the next girls night out. We keep moving and processing information rapidly because, well, we have to survive in this city.

When we operate quickly – whether in the workplace or our personal lives – there’s a lot to be gained. We are often efficient and can pack more in; we don’t waste time on items of insignificance or exhaust ourselves through repeated action. We make decisions without agonizing for long, thus we see quicker results.

Well, let’s dig deeper: An email comes in from a coworker asking for approval to go ahead on executing a project involving multiple parties, substantial budgetary resources, and time. It’s been on the table for months, but now, here it is, in your inbox, asking, quite simply, yes or no. Do you reply then and there?

Our intuitive nature could lead us to automatically reply, without hesitation, “Yes.” Sure, brevity and speed have clear value; however, thoughtful consideration does too, and when we act too quickly, consequences are at stake. For example, it’s tougher to observe much deeper than surface level through quick processing, and in doing so, we lose an appreciation for detail and nuances. Quickly replying “yes” may just speed up an inevitable decision, but it could also shield us from the correct one. In doing so, we don’t open ourselves as much to be creative or experiment with new ideas because we act according to what we know since it’s innate. With a loss of creativity and openness to new ideas comes the stifling of innovation, and then, what are we rushing towards?

Let’s explore this question: Societal pressure tells us to do things quickly, but there is often counter-productive pressure of doing a job correctly, to do it well. In the above example, you, the decision-maker, need a clean slate on the facts. In a quick email scan, even when you think you “read” it all, you haven’t. It’s like those reading puzzles where the letters are all jumbled but you can read it anyway because you know what it SHOULD say. We read what we want to read, and then we respond how we want to respond; by nature, we’re in our own head.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, t he olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rgh it pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs psas it on

But you have to get out of it, however long it takes, because you WILL make mistakes. Giving a decision, like an email, that extra bit of time for thought or inquiry will strengthen your ability to do your job thoroughly in a way that garners respect and understanding.

Same rules should apply to a company, be it corporate or startup, where a few things remain the same: there exists a hierarchy of decision-makers, decisions to be made, emails to blast, and hopefully a communications point person. However, nowhere is it mandated that an employer must identify the ‘norms’ for communications and flow. Since those guidelines are not clearly set, everyone develops their own sense of pace: a secretary knows that speed with turning around typed materials and mailings is key; an account manager prioritizes calls with clients over conversations with coworkers; an executive assistant does what is necessary to best accommodate the wishes of that particular executive; a comptroller cares most about the bottom line and maintenance of records. In short, priorities are different, and people work in a way that best accommodates that priority as they see fit.

Here’s a solution: The communications person and/or the head honchos need to step up priorities and communication flows with their employees. Some key concerns: What are the actual turnaround times necessary, and what’s to be gained and lost with respect to thoroughness and detail in different scenarios? Who needs to be looped in or out of meetings? Should the standard time to reply to an email be 24 or 48 hours, or can it sit as long as it wants? Is it ok for messages to come from a phone while on the go, and if so, is a more casual tone allowed? Can conversations happen completely remotely, or should time be made in person or via Skype? How do all of these answers affect the company’s culture internally and brand externally?

YES, we want companies to operate quickly; but it’s wrong for productivity to suffer because our fast-paced world told us to hit send. Let’s change that.

This piece is part of a thought-curated series on innovation and collaboration in New York City written by a community of visionaries who are interested in generating lasting economy and social change.

  Earlier today, it said Inbox (798). It now, clearly, is EMPTY. See?

It’s not to say I hadn’t read those 798, but I would mark them unread instead of  because it’s what my eyes were used to. OY!

I probably could (and should) do a second round of deleting and not just archiving, but I’m in the black!

Going forward, I want to use  and  and  more often as soon as emails come in.

My  have historically been a bit convoluted, but all that is about to change.

Also discovered  in Labs, which is a wonderful efficiency tool

I get ~30-50 emails to gmail a day, so I need all of the flow management tips I can get! If you have any more, please share!

My friend Kent who I met at the library just began a blog in which he reposts noteworthy spam. I am very much a fan already, as his first post truly captures the beauty of a well-written spam email. A blog like this can transfer the frustration and eye-rolls expressed upon receipt of spam to wonderful laughter and celebration of this crazy world in which we live.

In this new light, I revisited my Spam mailbox. My favorite that was caught in its web was just brilliant:

Good day my dear Friend,

How are you doing together with your entire family, I hope all swell am contacting you for a confidential business proposal and please care full reading understand my reason of contacting you through email. My Name is MR.Rifat Muhammad. The Director of  Foreign Remittance Unit via Bank Groups OF African Development (BOA). West   Africa

Here. I am contacting you because of an abandoned fund which was deposited by ablate customer of this bank called Mr. Rafik Bahamas Edine Hariri. 

My stand to contact you now is that, a foreign has the legal right to put claim to such deposit followed by you will proof your claim with the bank. There fore, I want you to apply as his business partner. 
And all the information and data’s you will need to make successful claim of this fund in the bank here are fully ready with me here. 

Note Well: Please urgently confirm your willingness and interest to assist me by filling and sending back to me the needed information below. 1. Your full name; 2. Your phone Telephone and fax numbers;  3.Your age;  4.Yoursex; 5.Your occupation;   6.Yourcountry and city. 

Thanks and best regards. 
MR.Rifat Muhammad. M.sc (ECONS

that the 5 digit zip code came into use July 1, 1963? The 4 digit add-on after that came into existence 20 years later.

Zip code history is cool history.

Dear JENNIFER,

After months of hard work, our senior toy maker has finally finished making your games. All the game pieces have been carved by hand to your exact specifications.  The board was painstakingly hand-painted to be a glorious work of art.  Then the contents were inspected by a team of 30 highly trained employees to ensure that your games would be perfect for the upcoming game night with your family or friends. Your games were then given to our packing specialists who placed your games into the finest gold-lined mahogany box that money can buy.  We all had a wonderful celebration when it was sealed, and the entire city of Philadelphia came out to wave “Bon Voyage!” to your package as it was loaded into our privately rented FedEx truck.

I hope you had a great time shopping at The Game Shop.  Your picture is currently on our wall as “Customer of the Year.”  We’re all extremely exhausted now, but we can’t wait for you to visit us again soon!

All kidding aside, we’re truly thankful for your order.  Below are your order details:

Your order #73606 has shipped. Please see the items below that were sent via FedExHome.

Product  #Ordered   #Shipped   Ship Date   Description
———————————————————————————————
——————————————————————————————————
NSG001   1   1   9/7/2010   Wits and Wagers UPC Code: 831112000516

First reaction: WAIT, DID I GET MORE THAN I BARGAINED FOR?! A HANDMADE GAME?!

10 seconds later reaction: Oh.    That’s really lame.   Get a life, thegameshop.com.

A minute later: This is actually sincerely cute and funny. I like it.