A Low-Tech Cure For Your Email Woes

(Actually, this post is sneaky and isn’t about email at all, but don’t tell anyone that)

Well, there’s no sense screwing around with a long and rambling prologue and setup. Here’s the cure for your email woes:

Get a physical pad of paper and a pen when you have difficult email to process. It will make your life easier.

Just do it. It’ll become readily apparent.

Instructions? You’ll figure it out! We ain’t doing rocket surgery here.

That’s enough instruction. Really. Just do it.

Ok, fine, a bit more elaboration —

Get the pad and pen out. When you’re stuck on an email, you write down the subject line of the email on the paper. Underline the subject line. (This is important because it gives a sense of gravity to the situation.) Then, finally, you write what you want to accomplish with the email. Onto the paper. Magic ensues.

I’m not saying this is going to make sense when you read it on the computer screen, as a consumer. I’m saying this it’s magically liberating when you actually do it, as a producer.

Because when you’ve got “stuck” email, ok, sometimes it’s because it’s all banal or stupid or you don’t want to read it.

But isn’t it true, just as often, that it’s something really cool and exciting that you don’t want to screw up?

So you get overwhelmed, and fear overtakes you, and you let it sit in the box.

Thus screwing up your opportunity.

Yeah, that sucks.

The pen and pad let you reason out your thoughts in a safe, friendly, non-computer environment.

Let’s say you get a big-time introduction. It’s overwhelming, so you’re tempted not to reply until... tomorrow? (Or am I the only one who this sensation hits?)

So you put it off. And your opportunity melts. And you lose at life. Again. F***.

Or! Alternatively! You employ this awesome 2nd Century Chinese technology — paper — and you reason your thoughts out. And they might look like (no sense being fake heroic here) —

“Goals: Don’t screw this up.

Don’t look stupid.

Be gracious.

Show that I’m well-researched and spent the time.

Set up a future call with an agenda.”

If that’s what you’re thinking, that’s what you’re thinking. And y’know, there’s nothing to be ashamed of if you think like that. I work with some really astoundingly successful people, and they’ve all got internal dialogs just as bad as yours. Just, they do something about it and get through it.

Really. It’s very anti-overwhelming to get it on paper. (“It’s very calming to get it on paper” sounded too New Age for me, hence, anti-overwhelming.)

But why am I still expounding, and why are you still reading?

1.Get paper and pen. 2. Write subject line. 3. (Underline the subject line for sense of gravity.) 4. Write what you’re thinking you want to achieve. 5. The magic happens.

Just do it. The words do it no justice. It’s magic. Do it.

Sebastian Marshall authors The Strategic Review, actionable long-form insights from strategy. You can get a free subscription at http://www.thestrategicreview.net … also, you can re-read this piece and note that it has nothing to do with email, to get a different flavor entirely. And then come back and sign up for The Strategic Review, because man, there’s not enough good stuff in the world, and this is some of that.