I Know Our Plates Are Full, But...

Hope you had a most enjoyable weekend.

Feeling a bit swamped today? The beginning of a work week is so busy, which made me wonder, how many of you get barraged with so many emails that you hardly find time to answer them? I bet most of you do.

It's so hard to juggle everything on our plates, and answering emails is not one of my favorite things, but it needs to be done, right?

Don't you think that answering an email is as common a courtesy as returning a phone call (which I'm kind of bad at too)?

Whether they're friends, family members or business contacts, it's so frustrating when you email someone and never hear back from them. It makes you feel that what you have to say is just not that important. And it seems as if it's happening more often as we continue to get busier and busier. So, I've been trying my best over the years to answer each and every email I receive. It may be short and sweet, but I want to acknowledge that person whomever they are.

My lifelong Rabbi (now deceased) had a lasting effect on me. Long before the digital age, this man was doing the right thing. He had a congregation of over 1,000 families. This meant he was constantly officiating at weddings, funerals, Bar Mitzvahs, and every kind of event imaginable, in addition to running synagogue services. That man's plate was FULL. And yet, whenever I called and left him a message, I received a phone call back that same day. That's right. He always found the time to answer each and every person in a timely and friendly manner. From that point on I felt, if he can do it, perhaps I can too!

I didn't mean for this post to come off as "preachy," I just wanted to vent a bit and ask, can we all try and find the time to acknowledge people? If our businesses have grown to the point that we can't answer emails, then perhaps it's time to hire someone?

Okay, I've been a bit wordy for a Monday morning, but just putting out some "food for thought."

Have a wonderful week ahead and hope you don't get barraged with too much on your plate!

images: 1. Sweetapolita 3. old-picture.com 4. Kyandra Rose