Yes, even someone like Tim Ferriss from the 4 hour workweek (his book and blog are GREAT by the way), a man who lives off of espousing better efficiencies in life, has email fails. The email fail:

• I email Tim about a Princeton related thing (he is an alum like me). He has an automated responder saying he won’t check his email, and gives different ways to get in touch with him, including emailing his assistant.
• I email his assistant.
• Tim responds to me 24 hours later – with a very nice response.
• 20 minutes later his assistant responds with a DIFFERENT response.

So do I blame Tim? NO. I blame current technology and lack of tools. Tim has been tremendously successful marketing his  intriguing work style, The 4 Hour Workweek. He has embraced services and tools that help him achieve efficiency on a level that we should all aspire to achieve. Just seeing how successful Tim is inspires people to follow his writing and understand his theory. Yet here is an instance where he was very inefficient. The solution? Better tools, specifically our new product Email Center Pro. Had he used this tool, he would have answered my email, and his assistant would have seen that he answered it, and even seen what he answered, allowing her to be informed, but not commit the mistake of answering the same email with a different response. Curious about Email Center Pro? Try it out for free!

What is your email fail? Let us know!

Sabrina Parsons
CEO
Palo Alto Software
Email Center Pro