Happy Canada Day, y’all! It’s a workday for me, but I’ll be off on Friday for the 4th (and specifically, I’ll be off camping. Psyched.)

So, a bit more on combating the WorkFromHome Vaccuum.

Step 4: Tackle email. After that iced soy chai on Sunday, I started going through my email, having finally decided to read the oft-bookmarked Inbox Zero posts on 43 Folders. First, I moved all the messages from before June 1st into a new folder. Then I sat shocked at the 198 messages just from June. Starting at the bottom, I went through them one by one. Most needed filing. Many needed to be deleted. A good bunch needed my attention. After an hour, I’d whittled it down to 98 messages, and I needed to call it a day. It’s important to note, though, that just doing that added to my feeling of relief. I started to feel far more on top of things, and just as important, I started to feel like I was accomplishing real work.

Yesterday I went through the remaining messages in my work inbox, and although I’d be kidding myself to think that means I’m caught up, I do feel poised to get real work done. The power of that feeling should not be underestimated.

I discovered I don’t need my inbox to be empty. Like David Pogue, who wrote about this last week, I use my inbox as a to-do list, and it works for me. What I need to improve on is moving stuff out of there when it doesn’t need my attention. And you know what? After I finished going through the old messages, I had an easy time quickly processing new ones. I answered those I could reply to quickly, filed those I needed to archive, deleted those I didn’t need, and left alone the ones that need more involved attention. So now there are 51 emails in my work inbox, and I’m okay with that.

And so yesterday I went back to my in-laws’ house and spread out and got some work done. Thank. the. gods.

 

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Rhiannon

“Thank. the. gods.”

So say we all!

Donna

My e-mail is desperately in need of some Inbox Zero action. And I love this photo of you!

matt

Ok. I’ve just spent most of the last hour watching/listening to the Inbox Zero video. Crap. I may have lost an hour, but I do think I may have just saved about fourteen hours a week. Thanks!

Yarn Thing

I am happy for you dear! I know how overwhelming it all can be. I to often will fall into the vacuum mode too!

xoxox
Marly

Alison

I’ve always tried to keep all my inboxes (work and personal) whittled down to just what needs to be handled. I do find though, that even with this I sometimes have to take a moment and get rid of things that have been sitting there for way too long and are clearly not going to be handled (at least anytime soon). ;)

yarntomato

My e-mail is desperately in need of some Inbox Zero action. And I love this photo of you!

matt

Ok. I’ve just spent most of the last hour watching/listening to the Inbox Zero video. Crap. I may have lost an hour, but I do think I may have just saved about fourteen hours a week. Thanks!

Yarn Thing

I am happy for you dear! I know how overwhelming it all can be. I to often will fall into the vacuum mode too!

xoxox
Marly

Rhiannon

“Thank. the. gods.”

So say we all!

Alison

I’ve always tried to keep all my inboxes (work and personal) whittled down to just what needs to be handled. I do find though, that even with this I sometimes have to take a moment and get rid of things that have been sitting there for way too long and are clearly not going to be handled (at least anytime soon). ;)

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