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Found a way to handle a coworker's constant 'urgent' requests that actually worked
A person on my team kept sending me 'urgent' emails for things that weren't actually urgent, like 3-4 times a day. It was really messing up my focus. After a week of this, I started putting a 30-minute hold on my replies to those emails, unless it was a true emergency. I told them I needed that time to check my current tasks. The requests dropped by about half almost right away, and the ones that came through were actually important. It felt a little wrong to delay on purpose, but it saved my work day. Has anyone else found a polite way to push back on stuff like this without sounding rude?
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fionaw546mo ago
Oh that's smart... I do something similar with my "urgent" sticky notes. I started asking people to write down what happens if we wait until tomorrow, and half the time they just solve it themselves.
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thea1436mo ago
Love that trick because it shows how much "urgent" stuff is just panic. My old boss used to make us write the actual problem on a form before he'd even look at it. Watched so many people get halfway through and go "oh wait, never mind." Turns out most fires go out if you just stop blowing on them.
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