Email Ettiquette

Email Etiquette..

All capital letters – I can hear you!!

Welcome to the world of digital communications, where what you write and intend to say can be worlds apart from what is read by the reader.  A friend likes to type in all capital letters, this is rude in email etiquette as it is though you are screaming at the reader – even if it is good news and you are excited.   “GUESS WHAT", "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TODAY?” can feel a lot more sharp and bristly than a calmer greeting, “What are you doing today after work? Let's go for supper”.

There are many articles and writing out there on email etiquette.

Common email etiquette hasn’t changed much, but people seem to forget that the email signature at the bottom of the page needs just as much attention as the rest of the message.  The content of your message should certainly be the focal point of your email, but the signature might be the last thing the readers sees and ultimately the one thing they remember about your email – or even you. Who is the message from??

A signature – what for you ask??

Are you emailing or texting a friend or coworker?  If not, then do not assume that the recipient will know exactly who you are, what class/course you are in or who you are. You may need to specifically identify yourself toward the beginning of the body of the email and/or include your name, the class you are in or what you are corresponding about. ”

Email and texting is so second nature to many students and workers that they forget the formalities of introduction that you don’t take for granted when meeting someone for the first time in person or on the telephone.

An email signature should have a few key elements:

• Full name
• Course/class name
• Section or time of day
• Telephone number
• Email address

Yes, the signature may actually be longer than the message but what information is pertinent to the receiver of your message if it is college or business related?

What does an email address say about you?A few signature items can make you seem unprofessional?  What does your email address say about you?

Some people even have fun with their signatures. The famous “Sent from my…” messages that are tacked on to many smart phone, ipads, blackberry's.

Do you have some email/texting pet peeves or etiquette to share? 

Add/Drop dates

 The first important reminder for fall semester is the Course Add/Drop Dates and Refund Policy listed below for the 2011 fall semester.  The deadlines for online courses are highlighted in yellow.  It is important you are aware of these dates if you plan to add or drop a course. 

 

http://www.iowalakes.edu/registrars_office/academic_calendar/index.cfm
Online courses started Monday, August 29^th.  It is very important you log in and begin working on your courses right away.  The last day you were able to add or drop a course online through the portal (WebAdvisor) was Monday, August 29^th.  After that date an add/drop form will need to be filled and turned in to the Records Office.  The Counselors would be happy to assist you with the process if needed.  If you plan to receive financial aid for your courses please keep in mind the Census date for fall is Friday, September 2.  Any registrations completed after this date will not be eligible for financial aid.

Less Stress

Stress is different things to different people.
Stress is very individualized; what stresses one person may not be a stressor to another person. 
Whether something becomes a stressor to you depends on a variety of variables in you and your life.

 

Your response to the stressor also depends on your physiological state. Every stress transaction we’re involved in is affected by our health, sleep, psychoactive substances, our food intake and our daily activity.

Yet at times we feel like we’re powerless to stressors. 

A Toolbox for Coping with Stress

1. Reorganize.

Take time to exercise or walk for 30 minutes each day, this is your basic defense against stress.”

2. Rethink.

What your mind tells you about a potential stressor will determine whether it becomes an actual stressor, always think of the positives.  Do not let the baggage drag you down; simply leave the baggage at the door.  Think positive - "No stinking thinking" as my friend Patti would say!  

Be aware of "that" baggage and how it impacts you and your life.

3. Reduce.

This is the balancing act- know how much you can do and if it is too much reduce something or somewhere.  This may mean dropping a course or saying "No" to a community commitment. 

4. Relax.

Try some deep breathing or muscle relaxation techniques -practice clinically proven relaxation techniques.  

5. Release.

Do something to reduce muscle tension - use a stress ball, vigorous walk, etc.

Ideas from  Stress Less, Live More: How Acceptance & Commitment Therapy Can Help You Live a Busy Yet Balanced Life by Richard Blonna, Ed.D, a nationally certified coach and counselor.

adapted from 5 Ways to Stress Less by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S.  http://psychcentral.com/lib/2011/5-ways-to-stress-less/

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Attitude is Everything

Attitude Is Everything

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate.  He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say.  When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!”

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant.  The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude.  He was a natural motivator.  If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it!  You can’t be a positive, up person all the time.  How do you do it?”

Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, ‘Jerry you have two choices today.  You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.’  I choose to be in a good mood.  Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it.  I choose to learn from it.   Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life.  I choose the positive side of life.”

“Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested

“Yes it is,” Jerry said.  “Life is all about choices.  When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice.  You choose how you react to situations.  You choose how people will affect your mood.  You choose to be in a good or bad mood.  The bottom line: it’s your choice how you live life.”

I reflected on what Jerry said.  Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business.  We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers.  While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination.  The robbers panicked and shot him.  Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.  After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.  When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins.  Wanna see my scars?”  I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

“The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,” Jerry replied.  “Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die.  I chose to live.” 

“Weren’t you scared?  Did you lose consciousness?”  I asked.

Jerry continued, “The paramedics were great.  They kept telling me I was going to be fine.  But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.  In their eyes, I read, ‘He’s a dead man.’  I knew I needed to take action.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Well, there was a nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry.  “She asked if I was allergic to anything.  ‘Yes,’ I replied.  The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply.  I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Bullets!’  Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live.  Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.’”

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors and nurses, but also because of his amazing attitude.  I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.  Attitude, after all, is everything.

by Francie Baltazar-Schwartz

from Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work,  1996

Your attitude in life is your choice!  Remember what Jerry said:  “Life is all about choices.  When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice.  You choose how you react to situations.  You choose how people will affect your mood.  You choose to be in a good or a bad mood.  The bottom line: it’s your choice how you live life.”  You can choose to adopt an attitude like Jerry’s and empower yourself to look at life from a positive perspective.  Try it you may like it!  What do you have to loose except a bad attitude.