I have no words of wisdom to share with you this week — I mean, why break a couple of years of consistency? — so I thought I’d be nosy and ask some questions. I’ll share my answers as well, dipping my feet in the water first to demonstrate that there aren’t any sharks waiting.
The overall theme here concerns emails. I receive about two hundred a day. Around seventy percent of those are deleted without being read — I receive a number of newsletters and such which are of irregular interest — but if I don’t trim the bush regularly they seem to be fruitful and multiply. This week was an extremely busy one and this morning when things quieted down a bit I felt a bit like Captain Kirk in the Star Trek episode, “The Trouble with Tribbles,” when he opened the cargo space and the hull was overloaded with furry round creatures. Herewith then, are my questions and my answers. I would appreciate it if you would share your answers as well.
1) How many emails do you receive on a typical day?
175- 200
2) How many emails do you wind up reading before deleting each day?
20-50
3) Do you faithfully delete or file away emails on a regular basis — say, daily or weekly — or do you keep everything in your inbox?
I attempt to weed my inbox daily; failing that, I don’t let it go any longer than a week before doing so.
4) How many emails — read or otherwise — are in your inbox right now?
203
5) What’s the date of the oldest email in your inbox?
March 11. Of this year.
6) How often do you check your email inbox?
Several times an hour.
7) Have you ever checked your email inbox during sex?
No. Who has time for sex? I’m busy checking my email.
8) How many email correspondents do you have who absolutely have to have the last word in an email exchange, regardless of who initiated the conversation?
Three
9) Have you ever decided that, however juvenile it might be, you were going to have the last word in an email exchange, and deliberately continued it with pointless observations?
Yes
10) Did you “win?”
Yes
If so, how long did it take?
Four days
11) If you check your email obsessively, do you get impatient or angry with someone (like your spouse, best friend, or love interest) who does not?
Yes