Save energy in your Search!
How did I just find out about
Blackle? Sometimes Google's marketing methods dumbfound me... if they even exist at all.
In any case, Blackle is a search engine I recommend using full-time. Fear not- this is not spam or a radical idea and I'm certainly not getting paid for promoting it to all three of you.
Blackle is simply a black screen version of Google. You may know that a black screen uses less energy than a white one... which is why Blackle is simply brilliant. Mind you, the energy savings is not huge for just
your screen, but if we all used Blackle instead of Google- imagine the energy we could save!
I'm also rallying to replace "Google" with "Blackle" as a verb to to increase awareness... happy Blackling!
Labels: blackle, google, search, search engine, tech
Finally! Guidelines for Email Sanity!
First, let me say that I have thought for years now that the word "email" was hyphenated. Apparently I was wrong. It's not the first time.
Now that I've go that off my chest, I was completely thrilled to hear a segment on
"Q" featuring the co-author of
The Email Charter: 10 Ways to Reverse the Email Spiral. Hallelujah!
This exists!
| 10 Rules to Reverse the Email Spiral |
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1. Respect Recipients' Time
This is the fundamental rule. As the message sender, the
onus is on YOU to minimize the time your email will take to process.
Even if it means taking more time at your end before sending.
2. Short or Slow is not Rude
Let's mutually agree to cut each other some slack. Given
the email load we're all facing, it's OK if replies take a while coming
and if they don't give detailed responses to all your questions. No one
wants to come over as brusque, so please don't take it personally. We
just want our lives back!
3. Celebrate Clarity
Start with a subject line that clearly labels the topic,
and maybe includes a status category [Info], [Action], [Time Sens] [Low
Priority]. Use crisp, muddle-free sentences. If the email has to be
longer than five sentences, make sure the first provides the basic
reason for writing. Avoid strange fonts and colors.
4. Quash Open-Ended Questions
It is asking a lot to send someone an email with four long
paragraphs of turgid text followed by "Thoughts?". Even
well-intended-but-open questions like "How can I help?" may not be that
helpful. Email generosity requires simplifying, easy-to-answer
questions. "Can I help best by a) calling b) visiting or c) staying
right out of it?!"
5. Slash Surplus cc's
cc's are like mating bunnies. For every recipient you add,
you are dramatically multiplying total response time. Not to be done
lightly! When there are multiple recipients, please don't default to
'Reply All'. Maybe you only need to cc a couple of people on the
original thread. Or none.
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6. Tighten the Thread
Some emails depend for their meaning on context. Which
means it's usually right to include the thread being responded to. But
it's rare that a thread should extend to more than 3 emails. Before
sending, cut what's not relevant. Or consider making a phone call
instead.
7. Attack Attachments
Don't use graphics files as logos or signatures that appear
as attachments. Time is wasted trying to see if there's something to
open. Even worse is sending text as an attachment when it could have
been included in the body of the email.
8. Give these Gifts: EOM NNTR
If your email message can be expressed in half a dozen
words, just put it in the subject line, followed by EOM (= End of
Message). This saves the recipient having to actually open the message.
Ending a note with "No need to respond" or NNTR, is a wonderful act of
generosity. Many acronyms confuse as much as help, but these two are
golden and deserve wide adoption.
9. Cut Contentless Responses
You don't need to reply to every email, especially not
those that are themselves clear responses. An email saying "Thanks for
your note. I'm in." does not need you to reply "Great." That just cost
someone another 30 seconds.
10. Disconnect!
If we all agreed to spend less time doing email, we'd all
get less email! Consider calendaring half-days at work where you can't
go online. Or a commitment to email-free weekends. Or an 'auto-response'
that references this charter. And don't forget to smell the roses.
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For some of you, this may not seem like anything close to an amazing epiphany. Perhaps you aren't on a Board and you don't receive up to 60 emails a day. But surely your mom or some other family member or friend sends you rambling, unorganized crap emails with all kinds of useless photos or "cute" attachments? What about those forwarded chain emails that claim 7 years bad luck if you don't forward it to 10 people within 15 minutes? (FYI, I have never once forwarded one of these and I have not had 7 years of bad luck. I did, however, promptly respond to the senders to these kinds of emails when I first started receiving them and I have not received one since. Victory!)
For me, this charter is somewhat life-changing. I just made the link my email signature (at least for now) and I especially hope that my fellow Board members click on it and it changes their habits as well. I admit, I need some practice with some of these and some of them are occasionally unavoidable (open ended questions), but I am making this the goal of my email writing.
No longer are we just dealing with junk mail via USPS, we are now dealing with excessive and unnecessary words and unwarranted responses which sucks the precious time out of our days and sucks the precious energy from our bodies and minds.
Read on, fair readers. Let's save ourselves from the Email Spiral!
Labels: charter, email, tech
