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Email make you angry, frustrated? Raise your self-awareness.

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You just got an email that doesn’t make any part of you happy.  Don’t people know how this will make me feel? No, they probably don’t.

The next thing that goes wrong is we react and respond to the email.  Do not respond! This is where mindfulness needs to kick in. 

 

Ask yourself?

  • Can you walk away from that email, and maybe read it differently? 
  • Is the person sending the email having a bad day themselves? 
  • Is there something in their personal life that is causing them to send emails with emotions? 

We just don’t know, but responding to that email without taking a break, won’t help.

You won’t show weakness by not responding.  Mindful people, like you, will take a few minutes or longer to collect their emotions and then respond (work from home applies here as well). Just think of the times we attack people and not the problem. I know you have it in you, now show others how it’s done.

 

Direct conversation maybe?

Another option other than responding to that email, is talk to that person, directly. Video call (which is more common now), phone call or I don’t know, walk up to the person? All of this needs to be done after you have controlled your own emotions. Remember, it isn’t always about you, but if you focus on the situation and not the person, that is what leadership is all about.

 

Here is an example response:

Thanks for the email insertname

I re-read your email a couple of times to understand the true problem here. It would be best if we had a quick meeting to go over these items. I want to make sure I understand the true context of the email and I don’t want to guess any underlying issues.

Can you give me a few times that we can meet? If you are too busy, do you have time for a quick call?

Thanks,

 

Harmless, emotionless and just trying to calm the tone of the email down.

Remember, walk away before doing anything. This is one great way to great mindful workplaces. If you are trying to make a mindful training program, this is a great topic to cover.

 

 

https://www.aslife.ca/leading-mindfully/angry-email

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