Whether you have been working from home in your sweatpants or going to the office in a suit, there is one part of the job that never changes, the onslaught of emails we get every day.
There were years when our day used to begin by texting our love interest or checking in with our college friends or maybe even scrolling through Facebook. But, now every millennial’s most used app is Gmail (or whatever platform your company uses). It’s the first thing we check when we get up and the last thing before going to bed.
You might love sending emails, but there are a few subject lines that either make us feel anxious, irritated or just plain angry. No, we are not talking about emails filled with grammatical errors (although that one hurts as well!)
What are these emails that haunt our dreams and make us feel like we are in a horror film every time we get them? Well, here are some of them.
“URGENT”
There is nothing more ominous than an email that just says urgent in all caps in the subject. The moment you see this, your palms start sweating and you begin praying to all the Gods. But, when you open the mail, it is either an IT guy asking you to change your password or a dramatic HR personnel asking for some personal details.
“Mandatory Meeting”
Now, this can mean a number of things. Maybe your boss wants to check in on the team or discuss upcoming work or even tell you about an office party (One can always hope). But, for some reason, a vague title like this just makes our anxiety soar or creates hypothetical scenarios like mass-firing or your favourite co-worker leaving or announcing that there will be no more cakes on birthdays. It might be time to take it a little easy, right?
“Important news…”
Cue the sweating. We all know in the depth of our minds that it is going to be just fine. The mail is probably about some newly hired employee or new clients or something good. But from the second it hits our inbox to the seconds it takes to open and read it thoroughly, we are basically puddles. Why do we give emails, so much importance?
“Hi”
No, just no. We don’t care if it’s a friendly reminder about a town hall or a company trying to sell a new product, this subject line is just creepy. It’s like someone facetiming you after you have done your skincare routine and are in bed with acne cream on. Just write what the email is about in the subject line!
“Are you in office?”
First of all, why are you emailing me and not texting or calling? Secondly, why? Just why. In a world that have apps like Instagram, Whatsapp, iMessage, Twitter and Telegram, why use email to check if I am in the office. This email just makes the question feel ominous. So, please stop.
“Performance review”
This is probably the only email that excites us and scares us at the same time. We all look forward to the pay raise every year but the process of getting there is no less than Hunger Games. So, when you get this email with the date when the review process is beginning, you might as well have been drafted to fight for your life (okay, maybe we are exaggerating, but still).
“See me when you get in.”
Okay, we are getting fired today. That will always be the first thought that comes to mind when we get this mail. Why do people write such scary lines? Do they line scaring us? Who knows but in the end, it will just be about a new task or maybe a desk change but in the meantime, we are gonna need a new stick of deodorant.
While most of these scenarios might seem exaggerated but given that we use emails more than any other platform, it might be time that we retire these emails. Just write a crisp and detailed subject line instead, like “Work from home ends from next Monday”, as much as we will hate not wearing sweats to work, at least it gets the point across.
