In almost two decades of email use, here are just some of the many email pathologies and phobias that I have encountered:
- People that cannot stop themselves from checking mail when the new message indicator comes on. I mean, literally: I know a fellow who will stop a meeting if new mail arrives — and when he has that pointed out to him he will confess that he really can’t stop himself.
- People who obsess over wording. I know one guy who writes emails, saves them, edits them again, saves them, edits one more time, and then decides whether to send it.
- People who won’t open email unless the subject line makes it safe. This fellow won’t read a potentially critical email unless the subject line says it’s okay. People have learned on controversial (and especially personal issues) to have the subject line say “This is okay to read” or they risk him never reading their email.
- People who don’t read emails before replying. I know someone who guesses from the subject line and length in kilobytes what the email is likely to be about, and then replies accordingly. He claims, like Kreskin, to know enough to reply without going further.
- People who won’t delete anything. I know at least five people who have never deleted any emails they have received since 1990. One, who has more than 50,000 emails, was despondent a year or so ago when his drive crashed and his backup system malfunctioned. He didn’t care about taxes, photos, music, or anything else but emails. They eventually recovered the emails.
- People who delete everything. I know two people who store nothing and either reply or delete messages as soon as they come in. They are literally fetishistic about maintaining a clean and empty inbox.
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The first point is so true in the VC/PE world where a buzz of the Blackberry prompts a rush of the hand to the belt to check who sent the email, etc. I have seen that happen at conferences, board meetings, etc. This creates a new type of attention disorder, and sheer rudeness.