I've constantly struggled writing or reading emails. Often, I spend 4 or 5 times as long to compose an email than most others; The same goes for reading through long emails, as I could never focus. This is having a toll on my work/life balance and mental health, as I am having to constantly work late or weekends to play catchup.
I'm interested in understanding if anyone else have this issue and what has worked for you.
Pro
If you have not had ADHD assessment i would suggest getting one done. If you do have ADHD meds will help and will be a game changer
Yes, it's amazing how much ADHD can impact your work life balance. It's great that you recognize your own limitations so that you can seek help. I create folders for urgent, less urgent, and unimportant emails. I set a timer to try to get through all of the urgent ones in, say, 30 minutes to an hour. Then, I set a timer to go through the rest in another 30 minutes (or an hour if I'm behind). I try to do this at least every day or two to keep the amount of time I'm spending on e-mails at a minimum. Just don't get too wrapped up in making folders/labeling them/etc. ADHD loves hijacking your time and brain to do counterproductive things like that. And like others have said above, if you've tried some other tools and techniques and still aren't having luck, talk to your doctor about an ADHD assessment and medication. It can make all the difference.
Have you ever had neuropsych testing? It’s impossible to really comment because we don’t know about how your reading and attention is in other areas of your life :) like is this issue local to email or really about attention or reading in general? I would suggest testing though if you really are struggling. Good luck!
Same here. Medication helps
From a tool perspective I made rules in my email to sort out all the ones I don’t need to read . Like 75 percent are not actionable for me . If it’s a long email just ask for a meeting. Emails shouldn’t be long to start with
Grammerly for writing email + text to speech for reading
Oohh, I feel this!! Trying to get better myself by:
1. Using text to speech for reading longer emails/texts
2. Using speech to text for what I would respond to vocally, then adjusting from there
3. Letting go of "the perfect reply" and realizing lots of times it's enough just to show up; read it back no more than 2 times then SEND IT! 🍻lol
I schedule "email time" so it's like having a deadline for my email writing. It forces me into action and having that deadline means I send it, whether or not it's perfect. If I truly feel something is too long or complex, I ask to schedule a call or in-person meeting. Also, I start and end my day by doing an email clean out.
Pro
Yes. I have found myself getting hyper focused on emails that I felt were important. When I realize I spent way too much time on it I just keep it as draft to cool off and come back to it the next day.
It’s not efficient but better to set it aside then to send TMI or spend another hour overthinking it.
I do the same thing ^ Not the most efficient, agreed, but it works.
Tbh, for important emails, it’s been a good practice bc it allows me to reflect on what messaging I want to convey in the background. Then when I come back to it and it still sounds ok, I know it’s good to send. In a world driven by unnecessary urgency, it’s ok to take a minute to think about what’s essential in messaging or next steps and save a lot of back and forth or wasted time on misunderstandings.
I similarly struggle with email. Text to speech and the Outlook App has a “play emails” function. I do much better listening to them and responding.
It’s also worth maybe bringing this up with a doctor. I know ADHD is the new en Vogue diagnosis, but if purposeful focus is really a challenge and it’s affecting your life, there’s no shame in consulting a medical opinion.
My computer has a read out loud feature that comes in really handy. Maybe you could find some other text-to-speech applications or online that could help you. And I make sure to use noise-cancelling headphones to help with the focus.
I was on the same boat a few months back. So thankful for read-aloud features. It's been the most helpful.