Welcome to Day 1 of the Shut Down Your Computer Challenge!
Let’s just jump right into some of the hardest, toughest, chewiest problems that we encounter when we prepare to shut down our computers - our email inbox. Oh damn that email inbox! I’m really resentful of it at this point. Why does it seem to distract me so? Why do I crave seeing new, distracting messages? Why do I get a sense of worth and accomplishment when I reach inbox zero? Why do I never reach inbox zero? What is this love/hate relationship that I have with email?
We all have to face it - we need couples therapy with our email inbox. Do we even share the same values anymore? What is the purpose of that inbox, anyway? You are going to have to grapple with this, because before you can say goodnight to your computer with a full shut-down, you are going to have to close that email tab, and hopefully (stay away from your phone!) close yourself to email for the rest of the night.
So, what is the best way that you can manage your email inbox so that by the end of the night you feel fine saying goodnight to it and shutting down your computer? Well just like any question that starts with “what is the best way to…” the answer is the way that you will actually follow-through on. Meaning that I can give you some options, tips & tricks, and advice on approaches and mindsets, but you are going to have to find your own best way to make this work for you.
I’m a very firm believer that the email inbox has basically served its purpose in this life, gotten us to this point, and is ready to be retired. I haven’t seen an adequate replacement just yet, but I’m excited for when it comes around. Until it does, though, the best we can do is prepare ourselves by practicing the art of email management lovingly referred to as Inbox Zero. Or you could call it Email Management. Or just call it “dealing with everything in my inbox instead of letting it sit there for whatever very good reason I come up with for why I can’t deal with it right now.”
Your email inbox is not your calendar, it is not your to-do list, it is not your time management system, it is not your project manager, it is not a post-it note or little red ribbon around your wrist to help you remind yourself of something. It is generally a distraction and time-stealer. It is an incredible and world-changing alternative to paper communications...but we have GOT to make sure that it doesn’t keep us from shutting down our computers at night. That means anything that feels “open” in your inbox has got to get closed in some way. The way that I have found best is to first fully admit to myself and be content with the fact that there may be some action needed from the email - and I’m not taking that action right now. Maybe it is too late, I don’t feel like responding, it is actually a more involved task that I don’t have time for, something like that. So I have to schedule it for another time. I just have to. Here is how I do that with my email:
If this is something that requires a bigger task before I can respond fully or with answer, I send an email back to the person saying so (“I got your message, I’m working on it, hang tight for a reply”) and then add a new task to my task management system that will be something like “do the big project and then respond back to so-and-so” and put a date on it for when I plan to do that task.
If it is something that I can send a response to, but god damnit I’m just not in the mood right now or I don’t have the time or energy to do it, I hit the snooze button and let it come back at me the next day or other time when I want to get that email.
If it has something that I want to read later, or maybe even reference again as a topic for a blog or article, I either dump the links and contents into an ongoing google doc I have, or save it in Google Tasks, or add it to my running list of blog ideas I keep in Asana.**
**Perhaps you noticed that I don’t have one nice and neat place for this kind of email content. Hey, I’m human, I’m still working on optimizing everything I do. And in this case I haven’t found the most streamlined and effective way to organize this. But without fail I get it OUT of my inbox.
Practice this week. Try new ways. Read articles about it. Here is a really good one with 2-3 sentences about a handful of tech leaders, some who empty their inboxes and some who don’t, and also really great tips on dealing with emails.
Honestly you don’t have to get to inbox zero every night, or even every time before you shut down your computer. I mean if you can do it that is amazing and great, please teach me your ways! But do your best and in the process re-define your relationship with email.
NOTE: You know that your phone has your email app and is a safety net - maybe try shutting that down, too!!
