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A few things in your life will be of high priority, even urgent:

• A flat tire.
• A crying baby.
• A need to use the bathroom.
• Thirst.

Not everything you say will be of high priority. Not everything you ask will be of high priority. In fact, I’d like to boldly state that many things that you consider “urgent” are simply a need for instant gratification.

Here is something to try: when you send an email, mark them with a “low priority.” Most enterprise class tools (like Microsoft Outlook) have this facility. If they don’t, simply type “Low priority” as the first line of your email. Pretend you have to pay large sums of money when you mark an email as “urgent.” And don’t send an email unless you can clearly tell the receiver the purpose of the message: to inform (but why?), to act (be specific), or to vote (and why).

Above all, don’t train your email readers to ignore your emails.