I have set myself the goal of sending only short and well-structured emails. For a short time, I also had a manifesto for this in my email signature.[1]
Of course, sometimes there are emails that need to be longer. Then I try to summarize the necessary information in keywords, if possible, to allow a quick skimming. At the same time, my request should be evident directly in the first sentence of the e-mail.
Short emails are better for many reasons. They are …
- … respectful instead of rude, because you respect the time of the recipient.
- … more understandable than long, complicated texts.
- … better structured and clearer.
- … more efficient, because you formulate your request clearly. This makes up for the extra effort of formulating and counting sentences.
- … more motivating, because with a little practice you can process your e-mails much faster.
So, short emails have numerous advantages over the traditional way of sending messages.
I want to apply this goal to my personal and professional emails. After some time, I noticed that the signature in my e-mails does not achieve the desired effect, but is often inappropriate. That's why I removed it again along with my online manifesto. My goal to write only short emails remains, but I don't want to tie it to a certain number of sentences anymore, because this doesn't do justice to some topics.
Feel free to share this article with your friends and work colleagues! In the end, everyone benefits when we send only concise, unambiguous emails.
Footnotes
[1] This rule is inspired by the website sentenc.es.