Q:My friend constantly sends me personal e-mails at work. I love hearing from her, but I can’t reply and get my job done. How can I kindly ask her to cool it?
A: It’s time for some polite honesty. Say, “I enjoy your e-mails, but I just don’t have time to read and respond to all of them during the workday.” Then stop replying to every message. When she’s met with an empty in-box, her e-mails should drop back to a more manageable trickle. You might also add that you prefer keeping in touch in person or via the phone.
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Many offices have policies against using your work e-mail address for personal business. I have often replied simply, “This address is meant for business only. Please use xx(at)gmail.com for personal messages.”
In a similar situation I ‘retaliated’ by being inconsistent. I created a file within my email and sorted all the mail from her into this file- and then browse through it when I have time (often days later). I respond the same way with unwanted text messages– It only seems takes one email or text message of “importance” (as defined by the sender) to not get replied to for them to figure out that this isn’t the best method of communicating.