Netiquette IQ Technical Term of The Day - Email Bankruptcy

 In my book (see below) I write about Netiquette and building an email process. In most conditions and with most people, I believe email bankruptcy can be avoided.
==============================================

E-mail Bankruptcy

 In this day and age, most of us receive several e-mails a day. Depending on your job, you may even receive dozens of daily messages that are not spam. While it is hard enough to keep up with this plethora of e-mails received in a single day, if you fall behind a few days, it can be nearly impossible to catch up. After awhile, you may end up with hundreds of messages in your inbox that have not been replied to.

If your become submerged underneath an endless pile of e-mail in your inbox, the only way out may be to declare e-mail bankruptcy. Similar to a financial bankruptcy, e-mail bankruptcy involves writing off the losses and starting over. The most tactful way of declaring e-mail bankruptcy is to paste all the e-mail addresses from the messages you have not responded to into a single message. Then send a message explaining that you have fallen too far behind on your e-mail and apologize for not responding. The quicker, but less considerate option is to simply delete all the old messages and start over like nothing ever happened.

While it is best to avoid e-mail bankruptcy by keeping up with your e-mail, for some people it may be the only way to get current with their correspondence. If you are in a situation where you feel overwhelmed by the growing number of messages in your inbox, make sure you first reply to the most important messages. Then, as a la

   ============================================

 In addition to this blog, I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, "Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and  Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ Rider University and  PSG of Mercer County New Jersey.
==========================================