Sorry for the delay in coming back to you

It’s just that:

  • I’ve been totally swamped at work
  • I’ve not been feeling well this week
  • I was having a panic attack
  • I’ve been thinking about how our society prioritises instant gratification too much and I’m busy writing you a letter
  • My cat required my attention
  • I like you an awful lot and I want to give your response the attention it deserves
  • It takes more energy to respond to your email about my subject of professional expertise than it does to subtweet Boris Johnson. This isn’t a reflection of my respect for you. Please don’t DM me to highlight this perceived inconsistency
  • I had something typed to you but I’ve just found it sitting in my drafts! Don’t know what happened there....
  • Someone needs me more than you right now
  • You sent me a detailed message and I need time to process it before I reply otherwise it’ll seem like I didn’t pay attention and I don’t care
  • I can’t quite get my head around the fact we’re still sending emails in the apocalypse
  • I really care about this response and I don’t have the bandwidth to write something that reflects that right now
  • My broadband went down
  • I needed to scroll through every eBay listing for a Shrimps coat
  • I was taking a lateral flow test for the 5th time today
  • I was talked into another wine actually no, that’s a bit Live, Laugh, Love
  • Everything seems futile
  • I feel happy for the first time in a while and I wanted to spend those precious moments somewhere else
  • I was paralysed into inaction by the guilt of all the messages I haven’t responded to
  • I’m a poor excuse for a human