Dear World
This blog is presenting the value and purpose of taking action with ALL of our emails.
We all seem to have emails going on and there is currently even more to deal with for some of us.
Others have plenty of time indoors right now, looking at the screen doing whatever we choose to and for however long we want.
Some of us are experiencing that there seems to be no end in sight to our inbox full of both work and personal emails of all kinds.
Where do we start and what is the purpose of taking action with our emails once and for all?
Let us expand on the above sentence –
The start bit will be easy as the process is clearly being given below
The key will be to apply the 4 foundational points and not get distracted
The purpose is to Let Go, bring order and have a flow to emails which will then have an impact on other areas of life too.
Once and for ALL
If you simply GET ON WITH IT (read our blog if you need to have it spelled out)
There is no need to repeat this task so therefore it is ONCE
For ALL is because what you do matters as everything is everything
Every single thing we do affects the ALL and that means ALL of us and every thing.
The following step-by-step guide is presented in a Simple and easy way to make this task very real and practical so that the benefits can be felt and change is possible.
These 4 foundational points are to be a reminder at all times:
1. Make this job a Priority
2. FOCUS – need some support, read our blog
3. Get Real and get Honest about your emails
4. Stay on track by taking action every day
- Make a note of how many inboxes you have
- Double check so you have not forgotten any
- Add personal ones you use under the radar
- Check the old ones you keep ‘Just Incase’
ACTION 1
Deal with work only emails
If you have more than one work email inbox – start with the one that has the least number of emails.
If you have only one email address for everything, then this would be the perfect time to open a personal new email address and MOVE everything that is not work related into that mailbox.
Once you have placed ALL personal into a new or existing mailbox, leave the task until you get to ACTION 2 below.
Work Emails
First – deal with Dodgy Emails
Read our blog for tips and guidance
Stop ignoring hoping they will go away
Check your spam junk box – what is currently in there
How old and is anything that you need slipped in there
Take ACTION and if it is all rubbish – DELETE
Then go to TRASH and empty immediately
Next –
Start a FILING system
create new folders where the titles apply to what email needs to go there, same as you would have a filing cabinet in your office.
If you already have lots of existing folders as you are always filing emails, then make sure EACH folder is visited, reviewed and only keep what is needed. Nothing more and nothing less.
- Commit to going through each folder you are holding
- Where are they being held and is that really needed
- Have you got simple access to what you need easily
- Do your folders require new titles so they make sense
- Do some of the folders need to go as they are years old
- Make this a daily task so it’s not going to be overwhelm
If you notice you are suffering with the ‘Just Incase Syndrome’ then it is well worth taking a stop and pause moment to read our blog.
TRUE Actions speak louder than Empty Words – another blog well worth reading.
There is no point making out you are carrying out something when it is just Hot Talk and no movement to speak of that is taking place.
If you find yourself distracted – go back to the Foundation 4 points
DO NOT MOVE ON FROM THE ABOVE JOB UNTIL COMPLETE
Next –
Start using FLAGS to colour code
Example
All green flags use to highlight a certain job or project
All red flags for high priority, urgent attention action
All blue flags for emails that require you to just read
Next –
Check how old the emails date back
Get Real and Honest – are emails dating 6 years really needed?
In fact, how many are you Holding onto and how does it make you feel?
Worth asking here what your attitude and approach is to work emails?
Do not just skip this Question – worth reflecting on your behaviour
So are you the one in the driving seat barking orders and telling others what to do and not do, but you are not really being Honest and looking at the areas in your life where little or zero attention or action is taken?
Are we busy finding ways where and how we can excel in our job as we need the pay rise that goes with the next position, but we lose sight of the overwhelming inbox that is flooded and continues because we don’t take much notice of it?
Are we always ranting about how many emails we have to deal with, but never actually Focus long enough to shut up and Get On with It?
Are we wasting time moving emails from one place to another but never actually take the steps to action them?
Are we avoiding at all costs sitting down and spending some valuable time just going through all work emails with some order?
Do we spend so much time in our head, calculating how we will do this and that email, instead of just getting on with it?
In other words, responding to what is needed in that given moment?
Do we find ourselves caught up in work politics, playing nice or doing the superior “better than thou art” nonsense, instead of being a real role model and getting on with replying to our emails?
Do we have a habit of putting that auto sign on to tell others we are out of the office and not responding to emails, when we know full well we are reading them and selecting who we engage with as that suits us?
Next – it would be worth considering the following Questions:
Do you try and act all calm and composed, but inside you are like an angry raging bull when you respond to some work emails?
Do you go and jump in with your counter reaction and vent out knowing that was not the way to deal with it and click send?
Do you say what you want the other person to hear so they like you, but it avoids dealing with what really needs to be said?
Do you do all the chummy mate stuff on professional work emails, when policy and protocol in your work dictates otherwise?
Do you write work emails with a hidden agenda – then spend hours going through scenarios in your head because you know it was wrong?
Do you have a habit of Judging others and talking about stuff you know you should not be doing when it comes to work emails?
Do you feel certain vibes from others in an email and you tend to have a habit of ignoring those?
Do you sense a disturbance from certain work emails and find that your body becomes hard and tense?
Do you act like you are Perfect in your work mode when it comes to emails but if others could see your private emails they would be stunned?
Do you get distracted easily when dealing with work emails and the overwhelm of the numbers unread in your inbox makes you feel yuk?
Do you tend to deal with what looks like Priority or important and let the rest of the work emails just pile up for another day which never comes?
Do you feel a heaviness – like something draining your resources because you have thousands of work emails all over the place?
Are you one of those BIG bananas – a bigwig in our world – that always has 5000+ emails to read and never gets round to them?
Are you expecting your assistant to handle your overwhelming work emails’ inbox but in truth you don’t trust anyone, so you go checking it all?
Are you always banging on about your thousands of unread emails and instead of talking you never stop and take the action to even open them?
Are you one of those who thinks the way to deal with lots of work emails is to set the auto button which deletes anything more than a week old?
Are you always on top of work emails but somehow all your private and personal emails are entwined and they just get left in cyber land?
Are you the work colleague who has nailed the work emails and could help others but never bothers to speak up and share?
Taking Full Responsibility by taking action with each and every email that lands in our inboxes is the way to go – NO EXCUSES.
Back to the guide –
USE the flags to the max and review the flagged items regularly
- Go to the unread pile and then put the oldest date on top
- Get a reality check and be honest – what is needed right now
- ONLY action what is needed and FOCUS so you get it done
- DELETE anything that is gone well past its sell by date
In other words, do not waste a nano second on old stuff
Use the A – Z sorting From or To as this can help
Example – if you use A – Z for From emails, this means you know who they have come from.
There may be some that never need a response and were just information emails – then you can collate in one go and press DELETE.
Others could be regarding something you have already completed, so you can swiftly DELETE the emails associated with that topic.
REMEMBER – ALWAYS GO TO TRASH AND DELETE
That way nothing is hanging around in the background
Use the date and get them in order with the oldest at the top
Work through them one by one and the key is to UP THE FOCUS
No deviating, digressing or having nonsense thoughts entertaining you.
Just Get On with It and see the numbers dropping – let that inspire you.
If time is your big issue, set aside one hour every single day, even if it means unpaid and just GET ON WITH IT.
If you need some wisdom and inspiration – read the following blogs:
CLOSING CYCLES
COMPLETION
DO SOMETHING
EMPTY WORDS
EXCUSES
FOCUS
GET ON WITH IT
HOLDING ON
KEEP IT SIMPLE
LETTING GO
TRUE ACTIONS
What Is Our PRIORITY
ACTION 2
Personal Emails
1. Make this private job a Priority
2. FOCUS on what is being asked
3. Get Real and get Honest
4. No procrastination please
- How many email accounts have you set up
- Which email addresses are now not used
- Check old ones which were never closed
- What private email address is the current one
- Make a note of ALL the addresses you hold
- ADD the secret ones that nobody knows about
- ADD the ones you have in anonymous names
Time to get very Real and super Honest
Are you making out as if your personal life is a real business?
Are you not working and so you pretend you are busy busy with your emails and in truth it is just a load of nonsense taking up space?
Are you acting like some bigwig undercover with the amount of emails you have flooding your personal email addresses?
Are you always wanting to Tidy Up your plethora of personal email address boxes, but never seem to have the time?
Are you one of those who is addicted to Online Shopping and the retailers just bombard you with emails as they have your address?
Are you one who has found a Solution to excess emails – you simply open up a new email address and ignore the old one?
Are you someone who has numerous personal email addresses as you never close anything and that is how you operate?
Are you leading a Double Life with all these different private email inboxes?
Are you hiding Secrets and your Vices with these under the radar email accounts in various names?
Are you one who designates a weird email address to ensure no one knows who you are on the world wide web?
Are you into stuff that is a No No and so you have adopted names and use them as your pseudo email addresses and you have got plenty now?
Is it time to be upfront, open, Honest and transparent?
In other words – is it worth doing a Take 2 and Living a See Through Life and that includes your email life?
Take a Stop now and read the blog – Living a See Through Life
Next –
Start with old email mailboxes
Get Real and get Honest right now – is it needed
What is the purpose and how does it serve you
Can these email inboxes that have never been active in years be closed once and for All.
Work through the oldest to the latest email mailboxes
FOCUS and stay with it – no deviation or digression
Take ACTION to get to the end and bring closure before moving on to the next mailbox.
Use the following guidelines and stick with the plan –
Check the dates
DELETE DELETE where you know it’s way past old
Put in A – Z order
Action anything that you know is not needed
DELETE the silly conversations you are just holding onto
DELETE all ‘Just Incase Syndrome’ emails that are like clutter
DELETE “I will keep this as it may be useful to others one day”
DELETE emails for the kids to read one day when they get old
DELETE anything that is not needed from past relationships
DELETE nonsense that you wanted to Gossip about to others
DELETE an old project that never ever got off the ground
DELETE duplicate emails that you keep as you think it will be lost
DELETE emails on items you purchased and they want your feedback
DELETE those shops that keep sending you new adverts
Go to the unsubscribe on the marketing emails and take action
Click the JUNK if you know that is where certain emails go
CHECK the junk before you press DELETE
Go to TRASH and DELETE the whole lot
If you have heaps, then a tip is to do it in batches or the computer may slow down whilst having to deal with large volumes in one go.
REPEAT REPEAT until every personal inbox has had your ACTION
Stick with it and streamline and refine what you are holding on to
Do a re-visit on another day when you feel fresh and have more clarity.
Check what is possible to Let Go of as a good night’s sleep may help you to see more sense when addressing those personal email mailboxes.
Use a FILING system where possible and FILE important emails that are private and may be needed for reference purposes in the future.
Start a PENDING folder and place emails that have been actioned but require some form of response.
Visit regularly the pending so things are not just left in there and forgotton.
Check what else you have left floating in the clouds in cyberspace and bring it back to earth which means = GET ON WITH IT.
When you are content with the task of dealing with ALL private and personal email mailboxes – APPRECIATE what has been done thus far.
NEXT –
Go to your other gadgets like tablets, smartphones, laptops or desktops.
Double check things are in sync so that everything you have deleted is happening elsewhere too.
This task requires attention at regular times – so keep it up Consistently.
And FINALLY
Go to your address book
DELETE DELETE DELETE
Names you cannot recall or even know how they got there
Any organisation that is just bombarding you with rubbish
Anyone who is no longer in your life and never will be
Anyone that causes you great harm in any way whatsoever
Anyone that you can no longer feel you want in your inbox
Be sensible and that means use your COMMON SENSE at all times
Benefits of this email housekeeping can and will be felt if the intent in which it is carried out is genuine and sincere.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Comments 12
Something that I have now been adding to my email housekeeping is making sure I actually “un-subscribe” where I no longer what to be receiving un-necessary emails that seem to just keep coming.
Today it was a train company and the unsubscribe is in tiny font at the very end and could easily be missed. Done it and then a screen appears and having to read through it all there is another note saying if you want to really leave then click this and again such small tiny print, it can be easily missed. The thing is the first unsubscribe that was initiated is not going to end it.
How misleading is this and look at the tricks they come up with so you do not get your first request which is “no thanks, I do not want to subscribe to these adverts selling me something anymore”.
I noticed that over a short period this unsubscribe business actually works because there is much less junk mail coming through now.
I know of people who do a lot of Internet shopping and they hold on to every email.
For me that would feel like sleepless nights as all that stuff would be draining me.
No different to a kitchen cupboard or the fridge – it needs regular housekeeping AND clearing out to keep things moving and flowing.
WHY on earth would we want to keep out of date stuff in our emails or in our cupboards?
I have come to realise that email house keeping goes to the next level if we stay on it regularly. There is zero value in going for it full on just because we are setting a goal, which we know is not achievable and feels laborious or un-necessary.
Recently, I found out a quick way to let go of email recipients – you know those one timers where we know we can’t even recall their name or we vaguely have some connection back in the past. So why have them on the big fat address list that we are going to one day get around to dealing with.
Our approach to anything needs to be considered. So if we are in frustration as we have had enough of not being able to find something, as we not only have thousands of emails but also folders created to distribute and bring some order – then we could say we are in reaction. Instead it would be wise to opt for a few early nights, feel more refreshed the next day, notice we have more vitality levels and then go for the backlog job of dealing with those archives and everything else we hold on our computers, laptops and other digital devices.
Like anything in human life, we need to work out what works and what does not.
As a world we seem to have lost the joy of basic everyday (what we call mundane) tasks, when in truth they are just part of what needs to be done.
What we ought to ponder on is our distractions and escaping from life activities that we seek to engage in and then wonder how life suddenly has so much stress created.
Of course, we can start by cutting ourselves some slack and just get on with what is needed and what is next and apply that to the best of our ability to ALL areas of life. Emails and anything else become part of our rhythm and things do tend to flow more effortlessly and easily.
I say this from lived experience.
Not a halo head or preacher or teacher in anyway – just sharing some lived wisdom I know works and is no big deal and certainly not boring.
This blog is a real practical guide and so what if I am the only one making comments.
It seems that the more I stay on this task, things get done and there is always more.
At the time of writing this blog, enough was said and it was coming from my own personal lived experience. Well since then, I have evolved in this department, so I have to post and share more.
Today – 27 July 2021
A friend showed me how to delete recipients of emails. You know that huge long list of people we have the one off email sent to. Like a customer services of an organisation that you had purchased from but will not ever need them again. Like that email you sent for a job years ago and have moved on since.
Then all those other names you clearly cannot recall or have no clue who they are.
Of course we need to be sensible but where I am coming from, I can feel and sense if they are worth keeping or not. Generally, it is the latter and my list has been thoroughly reviewed. I went back and had another scan and removed a few more.
My take is this UN-NECESSARY list of people or no-reply@ blah blah blah is occupying space in my computer. Not needed and NO PURPOSE, so why on earth would I just leave it and hold on.
What if everything is everything and that means every single thing matters?
The clearing out was easy and as this type of letting go is the norm for me now, I always appreciate what a grand job that was and my next question is What’s next?
As I am not tech or computer savvy in any way whatsoever, I just know that what I do need to get on with will come and at the right time, without forcing it.
This action today reminds me of life and how simple it can be if we work and focus on simplicity in all areas of life. Discarding and letting go of something that has absolutely no purpose just makes sense.
When I have had a tech specialist – a master in their field – check my computer, it has always been said over the past decade that it runs very well, as there is no background clutter slowing it down. In other words, I do not hold onto anything that I don’t need.
For me, that means my computer has the space to breathe freely as nothing is clogging it up, which does not need to be there. If everything is everything then this makes perfect sense.
Bit like our kitchen cupboards or fridge. WHY hold on to out of date or stuff you will never use, when all it does is occupy space?
Practical application in life like deleting un-necessary email recipients holds value in my world and also supports me to settle more.
28 July 2021
It is early evening and not really anything urgent on the email front to deal with.
So I went on and starting looking at SENT in all my Inboxes.
The numbers sure creep up and I thought it wasn’t that long ago I did a clear out.
What I know is just like housekeeping jobs in the home, this email house-keeping is the same.
My method is – deal with the small stuff first and then it is like the big jobs are not actually feeling big anymore.
On that note, the small emails were easy and a few hundred got cleared out.
Call it invisible support. I just honed in with my focus after the small ones were done and that was it. I started by clicking the VIEW to change the order. What always works is doing it by name, starting with A.
Yes – I must have sent thousands and thousands of emails this year as numbers do not lie.
Got to H and noticed the time on the clock. Keep going was what I got, so I did.
Weird but true, I started to feel lighter in my stomach area, like I had let go and there was space there at the core of my being inside me.
I texted a colleague as we are working on a few projects and told them I had just deleted 286 sent emails to them.
Back to the job, which just seemed to have its own beat – it was like I was instructing and it was getting done with zero effort or trying to get an end result.
Now at S – this is where I send myself news research daily. No point spending a nano second here. Got the command key and scrolled the whole lot, in one go and delete.
Finally, at the end and the clock had barely moved. I made sure that I went to trash and DELETED.
Bit like our bin at home is full. No point just leaving it overnight. Take action and get the trash out.
This window of opportunity where I did take action left me inspired to continue with this on my email housekeeping jobs in the coming week.
For me, I just know that these letting go things bring about change and space is made for what is coming next.
This emails stuff is worth paying attention to says a wise woman.
On that note – it is well worth reading our Dodgy Emails blog – https://simplelivingglobal.com/dodgy-emails/
So how does dodgy emails relate to email house-keeping?
Well just like we find more work needs doing in the clearing out and cleaning areas of our house, we do the same for emails.
How do we deal with those obvious dodgy emails that are so off, we hate them?
Do we bother to take action or leave it for another day, only to find it gets buried under new emails flooding our in-boxes? Let’s get real, most of us these days have multiple in boxes for our mail.
What if we just stop and take action, instead of reaction (which is not worth it as it gets us nowhere, other than more delay).
What if we find out where to notify whoever it is we need to?
Example – I got a few dodgy bank emails within a few days. I went online and found out the contact point to report this and bingo job done, on my part. What they do or do not do the other end is not for me to get involved in or even consider. That means no air time spent even talking about it to anyone. My responsibility is putting it out there so those that need to be informed are.
Imagine if more of us started doing this. We know when there are more of us moving in the same way, things shift at a particle level. Basic quantum physics gives us that.
That means those that need to know, like the bank in this case will wake up if they are sleeping.
Giving up or leaving it for another day, that never comes, is not responsibility.
What if by paying attention to dodgy emails, it becomes part of our regular email housekeeping?
What if, like in my case, taking regular action with the dodgy stuff, keeps the antenna on, which makes me more aware of the sneaky, not so obvious emails that could pass as real?
What if we do not have to be a victim to scams, which have now gone to epic proportions as the criminals have got very busy and creative in their ways during lockdown?
What if our personal responsibility to keeping flow and order on our emails, just leads, without trying, to the next thing we can address? No different to housekeeping in our homes?
What if we hold simplicity in mind when we approach our email housekeeping tasks and see what unfolds thereafter…?
A very basic and simple housekeeping tip that is in line with how we would operate in our homes when it comes to the trash. Check this one out…
At the end of a working day, whatever time that may be, I make sure the bins are emptied. This is also a time to see what has landed in the junk and get it out and unmark it if it is not junk or delete, so it does go in the bin.
I have a habit of checking the numbers and it amazes me how many emails we deal with and can delete as we go through our day. This holding on business is no longer holding any value or meaning.
Then go to the trash on the desktop and empty before switching off the computer.
We make sure at home at the end of each day to action our trash so why not keep it going in other areas, like emails. Just makes sense and it is not there festering behind the scenes when we open up the next day to start our work.
This is simple, requires very little of our time but a great task to lock into our foundation. It brings about a completion and we stand on a platform, ready tomorrow, for whatever is next.
We could call this an extension of email housekeeping, which is what it is.
The habit now of dealing with emails and not letting it pile up or be ignored really has benefits as it works. I am the living proof of that so we don’t need to wait for science or anyone else to tell us.
What is great about anything that we repeat that has meaning and purpose, simply expands us to evolve to the next. In other words, we get to sense there is more and without realising at the time we just get presented with it.
So if you scroll up there have recently been a few comments about my personal approach to even more on email housekeeping. Writing the blog was back then and since then, more goes on and by reporting it, I know others can be inspired. As I am not into checking or even remotely interested in finding out who will read it or how many people will, I just focus on what is next.
Well let me share…
I have a Twitter account that is for one purpose – to bring awareness to humanity about global news. Over 2,000 tweets and the majority are daily where every one of the 360 characters are used. That is the fun bit, to make it work by maximising the words used.
Well I noticed the adverts were now bombarding the feed so as I scroll there were candles being sold to sign up to join a science study. It was literally between every twitter. Hmm I thought – this is more than ever and what did I do in the past as I have seen these ads pop up. Well I saw 3 dots and when you click there is a drop down menu. One of them is you can block them. That was my favourite as none of them served a purpose for what I present online. When it comes to real life and what I know I represent, those ads are just in the way and have zero purpose.
So guess what, I go on and start blocking them and scrolling down and doing more and more and more. Boom – it reminded me of how I am currently dealing with emails and this just happens to have that same kind of vibration. For me that means, keep what is needed and let go of what is not. It makes sense and I got that it came to my awareness for the first time to take action as I had been doing this deleting stuff in another area of my life – emails.
This email house keeping tip is well worth noting for anyone seriously into addressing their emails.
Question – has anyone noticed how tiny the font size is to unsubscribe and it is near the end where most of us may never even scroll to.
Surely that is a giveaway that they do not want us to take that action. Possible?
There must be a team of unseen forces working behind the scenes, who come up with ways to ensure we do not really get to Un-Subscribe if ever we make the move to do so.
What I have noticed and it has just happened again is the first email might seem ok and it’s not an organisation but a person’s name. That in itself can throw us as we may not automatically think of deleting it. So in comes the same name consistently most days and now every day. So enough is enough, I go to unsubscribe and it tells you it has been done successfully.
However, there is faint writing in a green box and it looks like you click there to say job done. NO no no.
It is there and if you click it, which most of us probably would as it seems the next thing to do to close this cycle, you are back SUBSCRIBED.
I know this type of stuff has got me in the past, as I recall un-subscribing and not so long after I get the usual bombardment of daily emails.
For someone that rarely shops online, it is disturbing to think how much of this goes on. I know a friend who has literally thousands of emails and opened another few email accounts to share the load, so to speak. Things do not go away and neither does the constant bombardment get less until we take the steps to stop it.
Going forward, I for one, will continue to police my emails and not allow this infiltration into my inboxes that feels like an imposition. Leaving it buries them and we do nothing about it and then wonder why we feel tension every time we open up our emails.
Another reason WHY it is super important to keep a tab on our emails is because we could end up not reading something or missing an important email because all this rubbish takes over and we go a bit blind.
Email housekeeping is a responsibility – that’s the bottom line.
No different to our home housekeeping jobs that need to be done to allow things to flow.
Another tip I feel to share that may be use-full for some out there.
FILING
How is this going and why is it when we need something, we just have a blind spot and cannot see or find it?
Get organised and use that search thing and put the name in and search ALL inboxes if like me, you have many in-boxes.
Worth noting that the search thing does not show up stuff you may have put on your computer named mailboxes. Trust that makes sense.
These new fancy computers can easily create a sub-folder.
For example, I have one called INVOICES and a sub folder which it titled Invoices Paid by PayPal. That way it is easy to see and I know what’s what and how it was paid.
What I am realising is that another sub-folder is now necessary as this would further distinguish if the invoice is
a) from a company to pay
b) our company sending an invoice
c) we have paid an Invoice from PayPal
The reason for c) is because the modern world now seems to have this platform that is not our usual bank doing the business and most like to set up a website and get paypal on as the payment method. This tells me we go with it, as in many cases suppliers are not giving us a choice. We could blame lockdown, restrictions or whatever else but this is how it is and it is what it is, so let’s just get on with it.
What I noticed when getting on to this job and paying more attention to the detail, I felt energised, so to speak, like it was a job waiting there to be done and needed this time to focus on and action. Things just felt lighter on the computer and it sure took the numbers down and made space in my email inboxes.
I cannot wait to get on to more of this type of filing and continue with email ‘housekeeping’ tips that could be of benefit to others.
This email housekeeping really is ongoing and it spreads to other areas too which require some action.
Today I found myself with no agenda but some time and space.
I looked at the screenshots that needed action or at least naming them so I know what they are instead of a long list of numbers across, which is the date with dashes, then the hour, minute and seconds. It makes it busy for the eye, on a large desktop screen and ‘getting around to it’ seems like a perfect excuse to delay.
I found a way to view ALL of the current ones and started typing up what was needed and then the screenshot went into trash. I was able to organise into two documents and give an appropriate title. It reduced my screenshots on the screen by at least 75%. I then attended to a few more ‘odd’ ones and even more done.
This then led me to deal with emails. I looked at the number and realised there was plenty to get on with. With just focus and not deviating with any distractions, I got through over 300. Some were filed, others deleted or flagged for action. There were some and then some more that required my personal attention and that means some work had to be done. Time to stop and not concern myself about what is still left.
I just appreciated what was possible in that short space of time and by not giving a nano second to how many I could action, it became effort-less, to say the least.
Above all, the bit to note is I am not flagging, exhausted or tired in any way. I feel like I have more energy.
What if these emails are like tendrils that deplete our life force on some level?
For me over-riding the fact they need to be done and putting them off is nothing more than a delay. Understandable, but how long are we prepared to stay in our delay mode, if we are not being honest and never getting around to it?
How many of us are good at creating folders with headings and titles for this and that – bit like a filing cabinet and we then put our emails in there. This instantly makes our numbers go down in the inbox but silently and behind the scenes, without realising perhaps we are filling up space elsewhere, in the name of Filing. But because of the constant flurry of new emails landing and all the other jobs we need to get actioned, do we all tend to ignore, forget or avoid those filing cabinets, so to speak where we moved emails to?
I have a PENDING mailbox and in goes anything and everything that may need to be actioned in the future, or a holding bay for things that are in transit. In other words, not yet completed.
Well this was not on the agenda for today but I felt moved to go there and action.
I was able to read through some that are not even relevant as time as passed, what was or seemed important at that time, no longer applies and so DELETE.
The deleted items landed in the Bin ready to let go of and it certainly made space for more to be actioned. Without clocking the time, I went for the full whammy and what is left will need a review but there is not much now.
What I realised is we leave things and never get around to it, even if we have good intentions. We hold so much stuff on our computers, laptops and other devices and I always ask – is it necessary and that means is it needed, does it have a purpose and does it serve and if not, then it must go.
Holding on to emails and moving them into mailboxes is no different to putting stuff in our kitchen cupboards, never going back to clear out or review, so it just sits there with no purpose taking up un-necessary space.
That’s it – a waste of space, be it physical and tangible or digital and non-physical but nevertheless it is space being occupied.
Hello Reader
If you have got to this comment, it sure is a confirmation that you mean Business when it comes to dealing with those emails.
It is high time we reined in even more and start to live with some Simplicicity.
Emails seem to bombard our inboxes and those who have a multiple, like I do – it requires regular housekeeping.
This may already have been mentioned but it requires a reminder to ALL of us.
Junk emails never seem to stop. Be regular and consistent in taking some time out to UNSUBSCRIBE and keep doing it.
An example was a big bank and they would not do it – so I trotted off to the local branch (not that local really) and spoke to a human being and made sure this action was done on my behalf. I am not interested in any form of marketing and I do not suffer with FOMO and that is clear.
We may or may not be aware that what we call junk is a marketing Design that has a job to do and that is buy the products of services. That is it.
No matter how smart or clever we thing we are it never seems to go away.
The most practical way to deal with this is to keep ON with deleting emails and UNSUBSCRIBE at every opportunity.
Another way that really and truly works is to stop un-necessary online shopping.
On that note – it is well worth reading our Online Shopping blog on this website.
https://simplelivingglobal.com/online-shopping/