The below quote strikes a chord all the time, but never more than in the summer months… perhaps because it’s hot and sticky? 

At any rate, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote,

“A letter is an unannounced visit, the postman the agent of rude surprises. One ought to reserve an hour a week for receiving letters and afterwards take a bath.”

And while a letter in 2022 is a rare occurrence, I feel the same idea can be applied to our receipt of emails. 

Too often they are rude surprises: unwelcome mental houseguests dropping ceaselessly into our lives.

And we respond as if our lives depend on it. 

We do not take time to read, digest… and then, god forbid,  cleanse, our mental processes’ before we respond. 

This is when things get murky.

So consider this your clarion call to confine your reading of email to an appointed time each day after which,

Before you respond,

Take a bath. (Literally or figuratively) 

I guarantee your response will be far more fresh and lovely.

For more on the hazards of responding to email too quickly, take a look at “The Devil’s on Email”