In these times of “communicating more, talking less” I have made a couple of changes to how I write my emails. It’s amazing how quick it can be to fire off an email – but does that mean you have to respond quickly, too?
We seem to have decided that this is the case, and I noticed a pattern in myself – and others – to begin emails by saying “sorry for the late reply” even if it had only been a day or two since the original email was received.
This starts to have a negative impact as you very quickly never feel like you have caught up with emails unless you have an empty inbox – a feat I have not achieved in years.
But maybe there is help out there.
Apologies unnecessary
I have been trying alternative ways to begin emails and have had some fun doing it – avoiding apologies being the number one rule I imposed on myself. It was quite difficult at first, and a bit scary how ingrained the need to apologise for a self-made issue had become.
I tried simple openings related to the content of their email with a positive vibe – “that sounds productive” or “that’s great news, thanks for sharing”. Even a simple “thanks for emailing/contacting me” is a nice email ice breaker.
However, while being too busy to communicate might seem to be a modern issue, my archive work has proven otherwise.
Openers from the archives
In letters and meeting minutes there are some amazing turns of phrase that I am going to start adding to my email conversations. It is common for letters to be signed “your humble servant”. In fact, Arthur Young (1740-1820), the president of the Royal Agricultural Society for England, used this in almost every letter.
But as for explaining you are busy? What options does history give us? The archives have come up trumps…
In response to a request, one letter writer felt the best phrase was “a multiplicity of affairs has obliged me to postpone all thoughts of this until this busy season is over.”
Quite what “season” they mean is unclear, so there is no guide to when the full response will be available – a perfect way to say you’re too busy to respond AND not apologise when doing it AND not give an idea when you’ll get round to it?
Pre keys
This must have been the origin of keyboard warriors before there were keyboards.
What could they be termed? Quill combatants? Fountain pen fighters? Either way history is never dull, theres always a gem in the archives and history always teaches us something new.
If you’d like to read more on veterinary history with the help of transcripts, head to RCVS Knowledge and see the great work our volunteers have been doing.
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