Lifehacker suggests writing e-mail backwards. That’s not exactly what I do, but the effect is about the same.
Most people get way too much e-mail, and working in shops where that wasn’t true got me in some bad habits. In my current job, I quickly learned that I needed to put what I’m asking for right up front.
So the trick is to re-read before hitting send, ask yourself what you want, then put that right up front, and then why right after that. Ideally, “why” should include some benefit for the other person as well.
The improvement in my effectiveness and productivity was enormous and immediate.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.