Keeping a lid on email clutter – the Email Charter
When I was at Mountain Lake PBS, I came to the brink of declaring “email bankruptcy” – deleting all my messages and sending all my contacts a short message saying “write me if it there is something important you need me to address”. I typically got between 35 and 100 emails a day, – most were a waste of time.
Here’s an idea for stopping all that nonsense: http://www.emailcharter.org/
Here’s just one of the Charter’s Golden Rules:
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.
Let’s hope these ideas spread!
