Tech tip: holiday emails

A Box writer is going away for a month at Christmas. She will be checking her emails occasionally, but it's likely that she will face more than 500 emails on her return to work.

Since I want my email dealt with soon after her return, how can I make it stand out from the mountain in her inbox and get the attention I think it deserves?

Don't email it. Send it the old-fashioned way -- in a stamped envelope via New Zealand Post. Like many people these days, she doesn't get much mail -- some bills, some junk and the odd letter from older relatives --at her home office.

With luck, my letter will stand out brightly from that small pile, and she will start work on my project almost straight away.

Meanwhile, it could be days before she stumbles across my emailed request and takes action.

I briefly thought about writing the document in longhand, but that was far too retro.

- © Fairfax NZ News