But Her Emails
Nov. 19th, 2017 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tealinHow many emails have I started with "Sorry this is so late; things are calming down soon so I hope to be better at replying ..."
Years and years. Things never calm down. I keep on top of the urgent/professional ones but usually that's about all I can do.
So here's an announcement (as though anyone who needs it is reading this blog – you probably all know). I am bad at replying promptly. If I haven't managed to improve in 20 years of having email, it's probably not going to happen. The more emotionally loaded the content the longer it's going to take, which is the opposite of how it should go, but I've learned the hard way often enough that dashing off a reply without due consideration is going to lead to more problems than taking the time to do it properly. Chances are, I will fail in several key ways even then, but it won't be as spectacular a failure as the less-considered one would have been.
I love corresponding with people – am arguably better at it than interacting in person – but I do so at my own pace. If that's going to be a problem for you, then lower your expectations.
People will insist on thinking very highly of me, and invariably come away disappointed when reality doesn't live up to what they've filled in for themselves. I do wish I could stop them doing that.
Years and years. Things never calm down. I keep on top of the urgent/professional ones but usually that's about all I can do.
So here's an announcement (as though anyone who needs it is reading this blog – you probably all know). I am bad at replying promptly. If I haven't managed to improve in 20 years of having email, it's probably not going to happen. The more emotionally loaded the content the longer it's going to take, which is the opposite of how it should go, but I've learned the hard way often enough that dashing off a reply without due consideration is going to lead to more problems than taking the time to do it properly. Chances are, I will fail in several key ways even then, but it won't be as spectacular a failure as the less-considered one would have been.
I love corresponding with people – am arguably better at it than interacting in person – but I do so at my own pace. If that's going to be a problem for you, then lower your expectations.
People will insist on thinking very highly of me, and invariably come away disappointed when reality doesn't live up to what they've filled in for themselves. I do wish I could stop them doing that.
