True Confessions Wednesday: Inbox Zero is a Myth

True Confession #31: I cannot imagine that I will ever get to inbox zero.

Lately, I've been working on reducing the embarrassingly high number of emails in my inboxes at work and at home. I've also been working on being more intentional in my consumption of the news and in my use of social media, as both have a tendency to impact my mood and, therefore, my actions.

The other day, as I was working, emails were coming in, as they usually do. I've gotten pretty good at glancing quickly at the sender and then getting back to work, often deleting the incoming mail before it hits my inbox.

On that particular day, though, I became more aware of my reaction to the incoming mail. I caught myself making a face when a newsletter I'd subscribed to quite some time ago came across the screen.

Clearly, I was never going to read that newsletter -- or the rest of the collection taking up space in my inbox -- but instead of that being problematic, it sparked a plan.

First of all, I did a search for all those newsletters (Wow! More than 50!), unsubscribed, and deleted them. Very freeing.

Then, I decided that might be the foundation of a plan that could help not only my inbox, but my mood as well. I get tons of junk in my inbox, and most of it registers as neutral or nuisance. How much was that affecting me? And why should I be letting anything into my inbox on a regular basis if it doesn't make me smile when I see it there?

So, I decided that any time I got an email that triggered a negative reaction, I would take immediate action. If I could, I'd stop what I was doing, unsubscribe, and delete the whole lot. If I couldn't stop, I'd jot down the name of the sender and go through that process later, when I did my nightly inbox purge.

For me, keeping up with virtual clutter is even harder than keeping up with actual clutter. When it comes to tangible possessions, I'm picky about what comes into my home in the first place (and I derive satisfaction when I send it out again when it ceases to be useful), but email is sneakier, arriving whether or not I'm at my computer and even when I'm asleep. Not only that but, when it comes to information, I'm all I love stuff all the time. I have a lifetime supply of books I want to read, and my current situation with emails is just as bad -- worse, actually. Because emails don't take up physical space, I don't truly see them and so they accumulate in a way I'd never allow with physical clutter.


But I'm putting STYLE to work on my inbox.

• I'm starting with successes, and this plan is one of them.
• I'm taking a small step, 
• finding homes for the keepers (yes, they have one)
• slowly letting the rest go, 
• and unsubscribing to make easy upkeep a real thing.

Wish me luck. 

3 Keys Thursday: 3 More Tips for Tackling that Inbox

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Yesterday, I wrote about my inbox frustrations and my plan for dealing with them. So, today, I thought I'd share three action steps on the same topic, culled from other sources. For more information on any of these, click on the name of the source.

From PC Magazine: Delete first. Before digging into your inbox, delete the junk. Unread.

From Julie Morgenstern: Completely avoid your inbox for the first hour of the day. Settle into your day and set your priorities --  don't let email derail you.

From Marcia Ramsland: Decide what to do with an email the first time you open it. Reply? Archive? Delete?

I've gotten really good at the first one. As for avoiding email first thing, I've settled on a compromise. I skim the emails for anything that seems important or personal, deleting everything else as I go. That way, I can get survey what's there, get a head start on the important stuff (which counts as derailing, I suppose) and see what, if anything, needs to be added to my schedule for the day.

Forbes.com

When it comes to #3, I'm hoping that fighting the urge to check my email on multiple devices (i.e. when I'm not prepared to deal with it right away) will help me, but I don't think the "touch it once" strategy will work for me as a rule of thumb. Rather than being a time saver, it ends up derailing me; I do much better with fast, frequent checks (where I can delete the unnecessary stuff) and a dedicated time later in the day to focus on all the emails that need action.

How about you? How do you see these action steps fitting into your email management strategy?

E-Mail Conundrum

Pixabay

I am drowning in emails. Something's got to give.

Unfortunately, I don't have a nice, neat, style-based answer. The truth is, I've never found a good way to manage the deluge. Last year, when I brought my Macbook to the Apple store to resolve an email issue, the tech was visibly surprised by the number of emails I had accumulated -- and he laughed out loud at my clearly I need to see it desktop, which was, admittedly, in need of some tidying up.

But that's another story.

Here's what I know:

Pixabay 

• I'm overwhelmed. I have multiple email accounts, each of which serves its own purpose.
• I'm outnumbered. I could spend an entire day digging through this stuff, and still not make permanent progress, because, for every email I delete, three more (at least) find their way in.
• The junk outweighs the meaningful, personal stuff. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say the ratio is about 10:1.
• Checking email on multiple devices compounds the problem. Instead of increasing efficiency, it perpetuates a "read now/tackle later" cycle that leads to my spending more time on email -- the electronic version of "drop and run," if you will.

At first, I decided to tackle the virtual clutter problem the same way I'd tackle a real-world, material clutter problem. Sort. Divest. Put away.

Steps #1 and #2 worked just fine. I clustered emails by source and deleted entire blocks of unwanted and/or outdated correspondence.

I ran into trouble at Step #3. Where does an I need to see it person "put away" the emails she wants to keep? Printing them out is quintessential I need to see it, but that creates an entirely new pile of things to be dealt with, which is counterproductive, so I end up leaving them in the inbox, where I can see them.

Here's what I've figured out: 

• I need more information. I need to know what else my email program can do. Whether I learn this from a book, a tech-savvy friend or a workshop of some sort, I need to find a container besides the inbox in which I can "file" my emails. And then I need to come to terms with making this invisible place my designated home for certain kinds of email. This will be a challenge.
• I need more self-control.  Checking my email at every opportunity just because I can is counterproductive. I've decided that, given the quantity of information flooding into my inbox, I need to check my email in several five-to-ten minute bursts throughout the day, deleting the junk and either dealing with the rest, or setting a time to do so, which means...
• I need to apply a scheduling strategy. There is just too much of this stuff for me to manage as it comes in. In addition to my five-to-ten minute bursts, I need to set aside a time block of at least an hour during a non-productive time of day to tackle the to-dos that arise from my inbox. At that time, I need to either watch the videos, reply to the requests and take care of the to-dos, or I need to schedule a time for any specific task that remains. That last part will be a challenge.
• I need to read the fine print.  I've already unsubscribed from a number of lists. Now it's time to see if I can decrease the frequency of emails from the people whose lists I've chosen to remain on. If not, I may need to reconsider their importance.
• I need to reconsider my need for multiple accounts. One account is almost entirely junk mail. But, because I like the email address and the occasional gold nugget creeps in from time to time, I've hung on to the account. It's time to monitor this account and determine its value.

Pixabay

I'm always happiest when I have a plan, so I'm excited to see where this one takes me. Meanwhile, if you have great ideas for email management, please share them in the comments. 

It's clear I have a thing or two to learn on the subject.