1543 Unread emails

That is most definitely not the count of unread emails in my inbox. I would die (figuratively) of stress, shame, guilt, unopened mysteries, possibly missed deadlines and invitations. It would paralyze me, quite literally.

The spiraling effect of something like that would become the reason I miss appointments or don’t read books or don’t meet friends for lunches. It would make me sour and maybe snap at my partner or mother (these two get to see my best and worst side). And if I were to ever get to those emails, I would procrastinate because who really wants to read 1543 emails?

I have 16 unread emails at the moment. I am quite comfortable with anything under 19. How I achieve keeping them under 19 is by having a simple system. I archive what I am not going to read, I snooze the ones I need a reminder for later and I leave the ones I want to read in my inbox. If I have 19 unread emails and I receive one more that I want to read, I read one. I also don’t obsessively check my inbox and as of yesterday have also turned off notifications of all apps on my phone. All of this helps me maintain sanity in my ecosystem.

Maybe emails aren’t your monster under the bed. Maybe its missed calls, maybe its the pile of unread newspapers, maybe it is unironed clothes, maybe its thoughts that you haven’t had the chance to organize (this is another monster for me). Whatever you think it is, it is definitely impacting your peace in more ways than you know. Coming up with a realistic system will always help. Try it out. Money-back guarantee :P