Do You Love Your Inbox?
Can you love your inbox again? Have you developed a love-hate relationship with your email? Are you trying to convince yourself that it is a necessary evil? What if we pivoted and saw email as a good thing? An excellent means of communication.
Hiromu Arakawa says,
“It’s a cruel and random world, but the chaos is all so beautiful.”
I firmly believe that all the chaos in our lives should lead to beauty. Finding joy in the little things and providing comfort to others. If you have chaos in your life that drains you, it needs to be eliminated or minimized.
How can we find joy in the mountain of spam and emails that fill our inbox?
This past week, I only saw the chaos in my inbox. I decided the Chaos Whisperer needed to get her act together and eradicate some clutter. Folders were purged, rules updated and unneeded emails deleted and unread newsletters and advertisements unsubscribed. It amazes me how fast today’s information becomes obsolete. I did a lot of unsubscribing.
Unsubscribe is a powerful tool. One second to set it and forget it!
Here are three thoughts to provoke you, two things to inspire you, and one thing to act on!
Three Thoughts to Provoke
Number one, streamline!
Do you hate your email, or do you dislike the communication method? Often, we hate the clutter that email presents. It feels like an impossible task to find something and FORGET about organizing. I wrote a blog post called “Does Email Chaos Rule Your Day?” that gives some insights on how to streamline your email chaos.
Number two, realize your value!
Your time is money, but even more than that, it is the respect you have for yourself when you feel like you have accomplished what you set out to do for the day. You do not want to end your day feeling like your inbox ruled and robbed you of your goals.
There is no need to rush through your emails and respond hastily. If you are going to take the time to read the emails and respond, slow down, appreciate the journey, and focus on making it count.
Are you looking for some tips on Time Management? I have a blog post on that!
Number three, review!
Have you ever responded to an email and then, later, realized you took the context wrong? Frustration, anxiety, hurt feelings and broken trust can be a result of not thinking through our communication. In my blog post, “3 Common Email Communication Errors,” I provide solutions to avoiding them.
Two Things to Inspire
Number one. Learn to love your inbox!
If statistics are correct, we should invest the time into loving our inbox. Email is not going away! In February 2019, The Radicati Group released a report stating,
“The total number of business and consumer emails sent and received per day will exceed 293 billion in 2019 and is forecast to grow to over 347 billion by year-end 2023.”
Number two. Learn to change.
Learn to pivot. I am married to a man who hates change. I get it! You must dig deep and change your inbox relationship.
Deepak Chopra says,
“All great changes are preceded by chaos.”
One Action Item
Spend 15 minutes each day this week looking for what you can eliminate permanently from your inbox. You can do it!