Email overload? Do something about it!

People in the corporate world have some terrible habits when it comes to email. I've been going through some older emails and saw this email sent to the whole company from a colleague of mine. I respect him a lot and he is smart, but who outside of IT understands this? So here are some of my email pet peeves:

1. one word replies that didn't neet to clutter my inbox. I'm sick of hearing "thanks" in emails. It's nice in person, but no one cares of you thank someone in a "public" email.
2. cc-ing several people who don't care to read your stupid note about how you completed that project deliverable
3. cc-ing the whole company
4. ANY forwards or jokes no matter how funny or racy it is. Sorry if you've forwarded me any jokes, but those go straight to the trash
5. setting a high importance on most of your emails. I have a co-worker who sends almost all emails as high importance. I've learned to ignore those. It's like the reader who highlights whole books rather than the important parts.

I just read this HBS article about email overload and I think it should be required reading for people who work in offices: link.

Stanley Bing of Fortune also had a funny article a few years back. I've post a copy of it here.

But please, next time you're about to send an email, think about it. Is it worth sending in a postal letter? Does it actually contribute to the discussion?