I'm really sorry I didn't say hi, make eye contact or acknowledge your presence in any way when you waved to me in the hallway the other day. It's nothing personal. I just have too many people trying to greet me these days, and I can't respond to everyone.
That sounds ridiculous, right? You would never snub a colleague trying to strike up a conversation. Yet when you ignore a personal email, that's exactly what you've done: digital snubbery.
Yes, we're all overwhelmed with email. One recent survey suggested that the average American's inbox has 199 unread messages. But volume isn't an excuse for not replying. Ignoring email is an act of incivility.
“I'm too busy to answer your email” really means “Your email is not a priority for me right now.” That's a popular justification for neglecting your inbox: It's full of other people's priorities. But there's a growing body of evidence that if you care about being good at your job, your inbox should be a priority.
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