Show your in-box who’s boss!
Okay, so this weekend I moved my furniture around which required (gasp.groan.gulp.) me to disconnect all the cords, wires, plugs etc. tethering me and my machines to the mothership: the INTERNET. All too aware of my tech savvy shortcomings, I took pictures of how everything was configured so I could rapidly reconstruct my very own personalized on-ramp to the Information Superhighway.
And guess what happened? You don’t have to guess. You already know. I spent all day trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again to no avail. I tried. I cried. I used far worse words than Donald Trump on a bad day. I talked to “Brian” in the Philippines courtesy of AT&T who was very nice, very patient, very empathetic, but ended up solving my problem by scheduling an appointment for an AT&T technician to come to my house today between the hours of 4 pm and 8 pm. (And we all know how that goes.) Ugh.
And guess where I am now, with my 15-year-old daughter. Yep, you probably guessed this one too. At Starbucks, getting our fix of caffeine and Wi-Fi access. My daughter even sighed and said, “Ahhh – it feels so good to be on Wi-Fi again,” as if we had just arrived at a seaside resort in the Caribbean.
So what to make of this? We are far too governed by our technology. I can say truthfully I am not addicted. I can also say truthfully my daughter is. But while we gain so much from digital technology, we give up a lot too. It turns out there is a proven link between our overloaded email in-boxes and our mental health.
Studies show email inbox addiction is a real thing, and causes us “email anxiety” because we cannot ever get ahead of it. This produces real stress, not to mention less productivity, not more.
This is because there’s a fundamental imbalance in how much email you can receive (an infinite amount) and how much you can actually respond to (a limited amount). We feel a strong desire to reciprocate when someone sends us a message, yet we rarely have the bandwidth to respond to every single message. And it is this tension—between what we feel we should do and what we know we can do—that breeds email anxiety. (Time magazine, J.Glei, “Ideas” September 29, 2016)
Of course, this thesis resonates with me because it is a core principle of my young company, FREESPACES. Our time, and our space, are finite, and we must be mindful of how we fill it. If it is simply filled up with whatever shows up first, we will not have room for later for what may be far more important to achieving success, happiness, or our goal.
When I was starting out in my career I was an aide on Capitol Hill. I prided myself on not leaving the office on Friday until my old-fashioned, WOODEN in-box was empty. I could act on and dispense with every single request and responsibility. It felt great. I was satisfied, not anxious. I felt pride and sense of accomplishment. Now mind you this was just the beginning era of computers. I was still using a typewriter and carbon paper to respond to constituents!
Would I want to revert to the good old days? No. But there has to be a better way. So I looked for some solutions that did not add to my stress level. (So many apps, so little time = freak out!) The digital universe is infinite which is why we have to draw navigable boundaries around it to serve our needs and keep us sane.
So I waded through the plethora of helpful hints, tips, tricks, and best practices for this insidious byproduct of our 24/7 connected world. I share with you a few of the strategies I thought most actionable, easy and sound. Pick one or two that jump out for you. See how it goes.
This was one of my favorite ideas! I plan to try it – just as soon as I finish deleting all the junk email in my inbox.
“Due to high workload, I am currently checking and responding to e-mail twice daily at 12:00pm ET [or your time zone] and 4:00pm ET. If you require urgent assistance (please ensure it is urgent) that cannot wait until either 12:00pm or 4:00pm, please contact me via phone at 555-555-5555.”
Time to tell your in-box to back down. Show who’s boss. And then take time for another grande latte.
11 Essential Tips to Manage Emails Effectively
4 Tips to Better Manage Your E-mail in Box
Seven Ways to Manage Email So It Doesn’t Manage You