No…No….Don’t unsubscribe to Ready, Fire, Aim for heavens sakes. Unsubscribe to just about everything else. I’ve decided to take a shot at reducing my email clutter. Why not join me?
We learned long ago that one of the hardest things to do as a District Leader is to communicate by email with the Rotarians in the District. One possible reason for this is that some Rotarians might not be interested in just about anything we have to say as a District Leader. This might be because they are so involved with Rotary at the club level that the “District” has become at best a distraction, and at worst, an annoyance. A second reason Rotarians might not be interested is because District Leaders don’t have much of anything interesting to say. (I know this couldn’t possibly apply to me, but I’m just sayin….) In other words, what if we really ARE sending spam out to the Rotarians in our District? If that’s the case, then shame on us.
But I prefer to think that the reason its so hard to communicate with the Rotarians in the District is that they, like me, find themselves overwhelmed with email messages on a daily basis. I know I get more than 200 emails per day and some of my friends just laugh because they get even more than I do. In my case, I get emails from non-profits, retailers where I bought something in the past five years, investment research (I’m in the business), and yes….wait for it….Rotary emails. Rotary emails come from just about everywhere, including Rotary International, Rotary Clubs, Rotary District Leaders, leaders from other Rotary Districts, Foundation appeals for projects from around the world, etc., etc., etc. I realize that I signed up to be a District Governor so all of the Rotary email is just another part of the gig. But for the typical, ordinary Rotarian, who is frantically digging through their mail so they don’t fall too far behind, then maybe, just maybe, reading a Rotary email is just a little too time consuming in the overall scheme of things.
NOTE: I just was watching Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in Joe and the Volcano before dinner, and writing this post made me think about the two of them in You’ve Got Mail. Sorry guys, but this is one of the classic “chick flicks” and if you can’t stand watching this scene, I perfectly understand. Can you imagine WANTING to watch a movie called You’ve Got Mail? I know I’ve got mail, ….about 200 of them….every stinking day. Anyway, watching this scene makes me weep. It does. Really.
Back to reality. Here’s where this unsubscribe thing comes in. Have you tried it? It’s one of the most satisfying, entertaining, and thoroughly enriching experiences you can have. I compare it to the feeling you get when you go through the easy pass lane on the freeway and watch the suckers waiting in a long line of cars to pay the toll. Or the feeling you get when you go to Disney World and use your Fast Pass and walk right up to head of the line. It’s glorious!
Unsubscribing from an email solicitation feels even better, because it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Here’s the thing, though. Don’t confuse unsubscribing to an email solicitation or newsletter by going down to very fine print at the bottom of the email, with clicking the unsubscribe button at the top of your email browser which “blocks” the mail. (Anyway, thats what my twenty-four year old son told me and he is my personal tech support and I try to do exactly what he says.) If you hunt through the microscopic small print at the bottom of the mail you will find something that says “click here to unsubscribe,” or “safe unsubscribe,” or “change your email preference.” Any of the above allow you to click on a box that says unsubscribe. Many times a quick quiz comes up and they want to know why you unsubscribed. There is no option to answer, “I unsubscribed because I am desperately trying to recover at least some portion of my sanity and/or some portion of my life.” Therefore I just click on “I no longer want to receive this email.” Direct, to the point, and absolutely accurate. Just not dramatic enough for me, but again…that’s just me.
Every time you do it you feel great. I mean, you FEEL GREAT! You gotta try this. Even so, I’ve been at this for a couple of weeks now and it still doesn’t seem like my email garbage is getting any better. But sooner or later it will have an impact, right? Once you make a dent, you will find yourself sitting back with your favorite beverage, with a half smile on your face, without a care in the world, opening and reading your Rotary email. I promise to only send Rotary stuff that is life changing, like the last one I sent about attending my District Conference. That’s not spam….that truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity!
No time stress while reading Rotary emails. Doesn’t that sound great?
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