email

Email Overwhelm? Try This

I remember when I first got an email address.  That was back in 1995.  I know I’m dating myself a bit, but oh well.  In fact, I still have an email address from that time.  Back then, it was exciting to receive an email.  Ooh! There’s a special at Bed Bath and Beyond, or Best Buy, or Sally’s.  Every once in awhile, I’d receive an email from someone I knew.  It was fun.  I think I developed a bit of addiction.

And then I entered the work force where email was a great way to communicate to complete projects.

But now, I’m an entrepreneur.  Is it possible to be on a bazillion lists?

At some point, it became overwhelming.  I’d look at the number of unread messages and knew that I was defeated before I even started.  My phone was dinging constantly.  I don’t have a strong case of FOMO, but there is something to be said for Pavlov and his dog.  When that bell dinged, I looked.  

And then I had a revelation.  

What if I turned off my email notifications?  I finally came to the realization that I would always have email sitting in my inbox.  It’s not like I need to be reminded to check my email.  

And that is when the magic happened.  When I turned off the notifications, guess what? There was no longer a little number showing how many unread email messages were in my inboxes.  Let’s all enjoy a collective sigh of relief.  I did that I few months ago and the difference is stunning.

If you’re using an iPhone, the process is simple.  Go to Settings>Notifications>Mail and toggle the switch off.  Voila! No more dings and no more little numbers on the mail icon.

My next step is to start unsubscribing to at least half of the bazillion lists.  Alternatively, I may move them out of my main inbox to somewhere else.  I’m always experimenting with something.  Give this a try.  See if it lessens your overwhelm.