Your Email Does Not Constitute My Emergency

你的電子郵件并不是我的緊急事項

By Adam Grant

One morning last summer， I sent a rough draft of a speech to a colleague for feedback. Even though she was away at a conference， she sent me her initial comments that very evening.“Sorry for the delay，“ she wrote. I hadn't expected to hear back from her that week. She wasn't late. But she felt the need to apologize anyway.

去年夏天的一個早上，我給一位同事發了一份演講稿的粗略草稿，想要聽聽她的反饋。盡管當時她外出參加會議，但她還是在當天晚上，就給我回復了初步反饋，并寫道：“抱歉耽擱了。”我其實根本沒有指望在當周就收到同事的回復，所以她并不算“耽擱”了。但無論如何，她覺得有必要道歉。

Apologizing for slow replies is a symptom of unrealistic demands in an always-on culture. Work is presumed to be the dominant force in our lives. Instead of making space for leisure and rest， we have to keep monitoring our communication channels， ready to drop everything at any time. Being reachable around the clock means living at the mercy of other people's calendars. It's a recipe for burnout. And it prizes shallow reactions over deep reflection. We wind up rushing to get things done instead of doing them well.

因回復慢了而道歉，其實是在“永遠在線”的職場文化中各種不切實際要求的一個體現。工作被假定是我們生活中的主宰力量。不僅無法騰出休閑和休息的時間，我們還得時刻關注各個溝通渠道，隨時準備放下一切去響應工作。全天候在線，就意味著你的生活完全受別人日程的支配。而這就是工作倦怠的根源。這種文化更看重膚淺的即時回應，而非審慎的思考。最終導致我們急著把事情做完，而不是把事情做好。

When we place too high a priority on the speed of our email replies， we destroy our ability to focus. Interruptions derail our train of thought and wreak havoc on our progress. When you know you don’t have to reply to emails right away， you can actually find flow and dedicate your full attention where you wish.

當我們過分看重回復郵件的速度時，其實是破壞了我們的專注力。各種干擾會打亂我們的思路，嚴重阻礙我們的工作進展。當你知道自己不必立即回復郵件時，你才能真的進入心流狀態，并將全部注意力集中在自己想做的事情上。

Resetting the expectation that we all live on-demand lives will require a broader culture change. A first step is for everyone to stop mistaking promptness for politeness.

想要重置這種所有人都活在隨時響應狀態下的預期，就需要更加廣泛的職場文化變革。而第一步就是，讓每個人都不要再把即時響應誤認為是職場禮儀。

How quickly people answer you is rarely a sign of how much they care about you. It's usually a reflection of how much they have on their plate. Delayed replies to emails， texts and calls are often symptoms of being overextended and overwhelmed.

人們回復你的速度有多快，并不代表他們就有多關心你。通常來說，這只是反映了他們手上有多少事情。而延遲回復郵件、短信和電話，往往是過度勞累和不堪重負的表現。

For most of human history， being responsive meant paying attention to the needs of a small group of people in your immediate vicinity. Now there's no limit to the number of people who can barge into your inbox. Digital overload cries out for us to redefine what it means to be responsive. The true test of a relationship isn’t the speed of the reply. It's the quality of attention you receive.

在人類歷史的大部分時間里，積極響應意味著關注自己身邊一小撮人的需求。而現在，闖入你收件箱的人數沒有了限制。數字超載迫切需要我們重新定義什么是“響應”。真正考驗一段關系的不是回復信息的速度，而是你所受到關注的質量。

Every time someone apologizes for a slow reply， seize the opportunity to reset norms. When my colleague said she was sorry， I replied，“Apology rejected!“ And yes， I sent that one right away.

每當有人因為回復遲了而道歉時，要抓住這個機會，重新設定規則。在我同事說她很抱歉時，我就回復說：“你的道歉被退回了！”并且沒錯，我立即發送了這條信息。