The rules of communication are always changing. Do you remember when a cell phone was rarely used because it was a dollar a minute? Once, I used my girlfriend’s (she married me 18 years ago today) suitcase cellphone to make an emergency call and was scared the $3 phone call would make her dad not like me. When I purchased my first cell phone it was used for only important calls. Now, we use cell phones for most everything. Even in my office, I use my mobile…there is no reason to have the church pay for a long-distance call when my cell phone is “free.”
My experience with texts, emails, calls, and more is probably a lot like yours. One morning (a Tuesday) a few months ago I was really irritable. Without excusing my bad attitude, but understanding myself, I become grouchy because I felt as if I was overwhelmed.. Knowing my sinful tendencies, I try to be aware of these situations so that I can behave correctly! In the South, we might say that I was getting aggravated and it was only Tuesday morning! I took a look at my text log in my phone and realized that I had interacted with 72 different people (all work related) in a 36 hour period. Interacting with 72 people via texts ranged from marital conflicts, deaths, hospital visitation requests, numerous pastoral counseling issues, programming talks, and issues regarding others’ conflicts and it left me overwhelmed.
This was just through the medium of Texting! Let’s not even mention emails, Direct Messaging on Twitter, Facebook interactions, office appointments with staff, parishioners, and family life that took place in the same 36 hour period. As I headed into the Tuesday (full meeting days) and being aware of my then-current state of mind…I was able to walk in grace and had a good day.
Maybe all of us would benefit from some good advice about all these tools.
Michael Hyatt is a writer, businessman, and self-proclaimed expert on a few things…and he’s legit most of the time. He processes information in list form and that leads to practical and easy to read blogs. He has written a lot about email management which has benefited me including EMAIL BANKRUPTCY! Yep, I have done it twice! He also has suggested Email Etiquette. Hyatt has plenty of other blogs about Email that you can peruse HERE.
Hyatt even answers the question “Is Voicemail Dead?”
Off topic, one of my favorite posts by Hyatt helps define who gets my attention and defines who my FRIENDS and CRITICS are as well as who are TROLLS.
Hyatt isn’t my guru and he doesn’t have all the answers, but he certainly gives a lot of thought to these issues and seems to be on top of it. With hundreds of thousands of people that follow his blog, books, and tweets…it amazes me that he has had time to interact with me through Twitter and bumping into him at Merridee’s. Hopefully soon he will help me find ways to manage texts!
Well, I didn’t mean to chat so long, but I wanted to pass along some helpful things! In the 15 minutes of composing this email, I racked up a few texts and phone calls…I gotta go and I am sure you do too!
