Do you ever receive an email and think that the person who emailed you has an attitude, and you gained this insight by the tone of the email you just read?

I know I do, and I know I am wrong to do this. Just recently I received an email in reply to one I had sent and I was a bit unhappy with the tone of the email and thought that the person writing the email was upset with me, but I had no idea why. When in reality, I perceived that the tone of the email was written in the form of a complaint, I later discovered this was not the truth.

I am not sure whether this is a female thing or whether males tend to think the same way. My husband laughs at me and says there is no way anyone can portray their emotions in an email without actually saying something like they are upset or unhappy or very happy. I tend to read in-between the lines of what was not said or if there were words in quotes to make them stand out. I then spend a long time working out how to reply to the email and find out why they are writing to me in this tone and how I can better the situation. Don't do what I do! I am wasting time and energy making stuff up in my head.

Email was never intended to replace live interactions such as meeting face-to-face or even connecting via the phone. My tip of the day would be, and I am certainly going to take my own advice, is to read emails as they are meant to be read; simply put - read them and then reply to them. If you do feel that something is not quite right pick up the phone or ask if you can meet for a chat over coffee or lunch. Most often than not emails are very innocent and when the sender quickly types a reply to your email it is the fastest form of communication to them, especially if they don't text or have time to phone you.

Communication in this wonderful world of new technology can confuse us and sometimes trip us up, we need to be proactive and think like the sensible people we are (and were before emails came into our lives). We have to live with the fact that very soon something new will come along and we have to learn how to feel comfortable with whatever that turns out to be!