ETA: It appears that this is obviously overwhelmingly a “me” issue. 😅 Don’t worry; I still send these to clients and colleagues on a regular basis despite how unnecessary I find them when they’re in my inbox. To all you receipt confirmation fans out there: Confirming receipt of your comments in support of receipt confirmation emails!
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ORIGINAL POST:
Does anyone actually like “confirming receipt” emails? How did we get to the point where everyone feels compelled to send these?
I know people are doing it because of the constant pressure to be “responsive,” but I’d rather you live your life and respond with something useful when you have a chance than respond in half a second just to confirm for me that your Outlook is working. I already know you got my email. I trust that you are a responsible professional and you will send a substantive response in due time.
On top of being unnecessary, it also seems counterproductive. As someone with memory issues, I’m more likely to accidentally forget to do something if I’ve already sent a response, because my brain tends to file those away as completed tasks.
Next time I get a receipt confirmation email, I’m going to confirm receipt and see how many times I can play receipt confirmation ping-pong with someone before we both decide it’s not worth it.