I ALWAYS prefer email communication. ALWAYS. Here’s why.

1. 1. EMAILS NEVER INTERRUPT ME. They always wait until I’m ready to read them, and they wait until I’m ready to answer them.  On the other hand, I am so busy, pretty much all the time, that a phone call has about a 98.4473% chance of interrupting me doing something. Text messages are almost as bad, because they come in regardless of what you are doing. However, they can be more readily ignored than a phone call. But they are not put off nearly as easily as an email.

1. I CAN READ (AND DIGEST) AN EMAIL AT LEISURE. At least half the time, when I first read an email, I don’t get everything, and have to go back and read at least parts of it over again, to be sure I understand what has been said. In a phone call, the only rememdy for misunderstanding is, “What?” Same for a text message. To me, it is very valuable to be able to take my time to be sure I understand what is being said.
2. EMAIL PROVIDES A WRITTEN RECORD. Anything that comes to me via email is written documentation of what has been said, and by whom. On a phone call, if someone tells you something, they can always later say, “I didn’t say that!” and you have no way of proving them wrong. Text messages are generally short and cryptic anyway, and while you CAN dig up old text messages from last month or last year, doing so is always a royal pain. The absolute best documentation of who said what and when, aside from a paper document, is an email.
3. I CAN TAKE MY TIME ANSWERING. Unlike a phone call, where someone generally expects an answer in the time it takes you to inhale, with an email, you can carefully consider your answer, and try out several ways pf phrasing it before you commit to sending it. Note: not everyone does this, and the communications world would be a better place if they did. With an email, you can read over what you wrote, several times if you like, and be sure you are not putting your foot in your mouth.  On a phone call or text message, if you say something you didn’t mean to, it’s too late. You cannot reach out into the communosphere and snatch your words back.
4. I CAN GOVERN MY OWN TONE. Everyone should already know that the WAY you say something is every bit as important as the words you say.  Sometimes you want to sound friendly, some time whimsical, sometimes serious, and sometimes even stern. With a phone call or text message, you don’t have time to figure out the best way to sound like you want to sound, so you say the best thing you can at the time. With an email, you can take your time and make it sound just right.

And this, my friends, is why I do NOT have email on my phone, and will probably always continue to refuse adding it there. It is also why I much prefer email for any form of serious communication, or for anything requiring thought or for which I may later be held accountable.

I know many (most?) others feel differently – they live on their phones. But I can promise you, very few of these people are truly excellent communicators. I certainly strive to be one.

I hope you do, too.