For about a month, I couldn’t get my emails below 100. And that’s after deleting the routine stuff I subscribe to, like Groupon, Seth Godin’s blog and Visual Thesaurus’ word of the day. These 100+ emails were the real deal. People who asked me a question, needed my response or work I had to submit. And just let me say, that 100 emails was a “good” day.
Those emails bugged me. Constantly. Like a fly that always seems to appear while I’m cooking dinner … that annoying-why-does-this-always-happen? kind of bugging.
I know why the emails happen. They pile up whenever I’m out of town for even a few days. Then it takes me weeks to catch up.
Finally last week I decided I couldn’t take it any more. Even though I had pressing projects, I had to get through my emails. So I set everything aside and worked through them one by one. Some were there because I delayed making a decision. Some needed a quick “thanks for the note.” A handful were requests to be put on a mailing list for writing classes and I decided my assistant could handle those – which took some time to train her, but now I just forward them. Others needed me to create a folder to save, so I did that. Finally, my emails were under 10, which is manageable.
Once I finished up that frustrating task, I felt liberated. And a funny thing happened. I got inspired to finish a bunch of other little projects that had been on my list.
Seems the constant thinking about my emails was draining the mental energy and creativity out of me.
Sometimes we need to set aside urgent demands and just finish that task we’ve been putting off. It might be minor and it might be important. But if it’s nagging at you, then get it done! I believe you’ll experience greater productivity with all your other responsibilities.
So, what’s bugging you today? For me, now that my emails are under control, it’s balancing my checkbook. Guess I better get to it. Hope you have a great day!
Grace & Peace,
Glynnis
P.S. If you are reading this by email, please click here to be taken to my blog to leave a comment.
This bothers the heck out of me, too. I think your book explains it in the part where your brain stores these in RAM which takes up space, energy, and time. My inbox has over 448 UNREAD e-mails and I’m getting ready to be out for vacation. I just dread them when I come back. They never go away and they require something of me. My one tip is I sort the e-mails by “from” (click on the “from” sort by option at the top of your inbox) and I can see by category and delete whole categories instead of the one-by-one method (which would make my eye balls fall from their sockets).
I enjoyed your blog… I wish i had only a hundred to go through. i have had my yahoo account since 96. there is 20265 UNREAD EMAILS and 330 pages of emails total. dated from 2004. it is nice to read some of them.. like journals.
Oooh, I’m going to try this. I won’t even say how many e-mails I have in my inbox, but this will help me out. Thanks for the tip!
I find sorting by subject helps, too. I sort by one then the other for a quick cleanup.
Thank you for today’s message. I now see what has been bugging me that I didn’t realize. How is it I didn’t see it before? Your message though opened my eyes. I now know what I have to do to get MY TASK completed that’s been bugging me. I can also see how I’ve procrastinated on other tasks because of this one thing. I almost feel relieved just from the realization of what’s happening! Thank you Glynnis!!!!
I finally got my Inbox down to a big fat ZERO! and have managed to keep it that way for the last 14 days:) Liberating is the word. Having all those emails in there does put a drain on ones mind and energy level.
I had the exact same thing happen yesterday. I hadn’t dusted in far too long and it was a constant annoyance, so yesterday I finally dusted and vacuumed! I was very proud of myself… even if my husband didn’t notice
Your house looks great Loralee. I can tell from way over here!
Yes! Fully agree with the email thing. The nagging time consuming project for me is printing photos for albums for my kids to enjoy. I’m stopped at Fall 2007 in our family albums and just want to catch up on that.
First-I am amazed there is another Tami that spells her name the same way as I do that left a comment!!!!
I TOTALLY feel the stress of my inbox. Except mine is up to 2,000 unread! Ugh. I have even unsubscribed to things that I know I don’t have time for. I just need to dedicate the time like you did to do this mammoth task. I know I will feel so much calmer when it is done. Thanks for the inspiration!!!!
Hi Tami,
I, too, totally relate to the email thing, and I HAVE to keep my manageable (which is still a higher number than I like) because my provider cuts me off when my inbox gets too full. One thing I had to do is to unsubscribe from things that I had joined, until I could get my inbox back under control. It was no use keeping the subscriptions because I just kept deleting them. Hope that helps!
Blessings,
Selena
My work inbox is currently over 600. I agree with you re: how we experience greater productivity if we address the thing nagging us. This was true about my bedroom closet and the area under my bathroom sink. I addressed it after reading the Clutter-Free Challenge and felt SO much better. Off to address some waiting emails now!…
Thank you!!!! The “little” tips you give help me so much as I work to declutter my life. Still a lot of tasks to tackle, but I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
You have hit the nail on the head with this one. Once I have finished somehthing I’ve dreaded and put off (ususally for me it’s weeding through bills, mail, paper that’s been on my desk too long,etc) I feel like I can tackle the world.
Every once in a while I have a “back-burner” day {BBD}. This is the day when aaaaaaallllll of those little things that have been put on the back-burner of my to-do list get happily moved to the front. It usually takes a day to get them all taken care of, but once it’s done, all my burners are clear. Then I can refocus, making the time I spend on my “front-burner” stuff a bit more productive!
Some of my back-burner items:
~ Updating my blog: I don’t get paid to write, so sadly, my blog can get pushed aside
~ Updating my email and texting lists
~ Reading the million blogs I subscribe to: I pick and chose the topics I want and delete the rest
~ Straightening my office: Being a youth leader, teacher, drama director, VBS director, and what-not, things tend to appear in my small office…and stay around for months at a time. I have a box full of bubble wrap in the corner right now…not quiet sure how long it’s been there…or why on earth it ended up in here…
~ Write email templates: I THINK I got this idea from Mary DeMuth. I write standard email or “text” replies that I can edit when I need to send them out, instead of starting from scratch every time.
~ Grade papers and update student service hours…yeah sadly that gets put on the back-burner and it gets it’s OWN day dedicated to catching up!
Ok, my back-burner list is making me tired…gonna tackle a few pressing things with the rest of today. Tomorrow is my already scheduled BBD!
<3 Heather
If it was only 100 in one email account…. But I have plus 100 at work and then the home email and recently added another school email and I think I have one in a scrapbooking group …yegads. There was one day that I deleted them enmass and then only handled those new ones that said…hey did you get my message…I’m tempted to do that yet again and send my apologies to family and friends with a ” call me next time instead of emailing me note”
Love this and am challenged to take care of a few items that have been in the way of many other things for weeks. The amount of paper coming into my home on a daily basis is driving me crazy especially as it piles up. I feel as though there is not much of the “Me” I used to be.
great reminder that just checking off those pushed-aside items can really be mentally freeing. now….where did i put my to-do list???
That was a blessing. Thank you for posting it.
I think that I am probably venting right now, but I have a very demanding job. I am a Finance System Project Manager and sometimes work between 10 to 14 hour days due to constant deadlines. I took a course on email time management and how it destroys your productivity about a year ago, but still struggle with managing more than just email. The course was designed to manage your calendar instead of email, however, that doesn’t work in reality when you are woman with a career and also mother, wife, etc. – so when do you have time for yourself? I had told the instructor that and he certainly didn’t have an answer for me. At some times I can get up to 200 work emails a day and that doesn’t even touch on my home emails – you don’t want to know how many emails I have in my in- boxes. I gave up on my home email and use my smart phone to manage who I need to respond to – but can’t sync with my email on my home PC so I end up reviewing them twice when even attempt to finally log onto my home PC – I dread that. I have a friend that is going to show me how to create rules in Outlook to manage the email better – perhaps that will help.
I like Heather’s idea of writing email templates too – maybe I should do that for my projects too – LOL!
Any ideas on just managing paperwork and multi-tasking would be very helpful for me. Technology and information is too quick now and we are a slave to it. Wish I could go back to the good old days before all this when we picked up the phone, went to go see someone if there was an issue or hand typed a memo!
Signed – Help – I am in Email and Paper work Jail!
I’ve found the hardest part is sitting down and starting! Once I do that so much gets accomplished.
What bugged me since 3am this morning was thinking of where I put a very important key
so the first thing this morning when I got out of bed I started looking for it and as I was looking in places for it other places it may be came to mind, FINALLY at 3:30pm this afternoon, I found it! What a relief. It may not be exactly what you were talking about but it was bugging me, I prayed for direction and located it.
This is a huge problem for me. I tried really hard recently and got my emails to under 100 unread… only to be away from my computer for a day and have it explode again on me. It’s like doing laundry or washing dishes… it’s another task that I can never seem to fully get done! Glad to hear I’m not alone in this struggle. Thanks for sharing.
I know what you mean! I don’t think my emails have ever been under 100. It seems that when I think I can get through them something always gets in the way!! I always need to be reminded that I’m not alone!
I enjoyed this, Glynnis! Because when I let something get far out of balance, yes, it bugs me.
Thank you!
I can remember before E-mails, and since I moved a lot and loved sending cards etc, I used to always have a stack of mail to be answered. I always bought cards as I found them for special people. I miss those times, now all my communication is e-mail, text, Facebook etc. i try to regularly send a card or note by mail to my granddaughters. Hopefully they will enjoy them for awhile. I have copies of letters and cards my moms mom sent to my aunt when she moved away and it is such an enlightening snapshot into her life. E-mails are quick and convenient but I still love getting a quick note by mail!
Definitely plagued by this as well, although it is usually not my email that bugs me…right now, it’s the thank you cards I need to write. Guess I will get to that tonight!
My current bugaboo is that I have not filed all of the materials from the winter semester course i taught. The class ended on April 18! It’s on my to-do list every day, but some days I only get one thing filed b/c now that active teaching is done for a few months, I’m prioritizing all the housecleaning I haven’t done since last August, and attending school events, concerts, recitals, etc. for my kids’ end-of-year activities. But I know what will happen come late August if I don’t get those materials filed – it will be TROUBLE.
LOVE the idea of a Back-Burner Day!! Lord-willing, (and I AM praying about this), this Summer will be my pull-Deborah-back-from-the-brink-of-disaster-in-her-organizing. I have a friend signed up, babysitter for her kiddos and am SERIOUS about seeing God’s work. For my emails (just dealing with the home one for here…the work, junk and other ones are on a when-I-get-to-it basis), to help you feel more productive!
a few weeks ago, I reduced the home one from 6,990+ (did NOT want to break the 7,000 mark!) to 5, 861. My goal is to reduce by 10 per day. Some days I make it, some days I don’t, but I keep going after it. Working on practicing better habits, all-the-way-round…so I need to scoot right now! 
Thanks for your notes & good ideas on here, each of you! <3
thanks, i can relate to this and most everything you blog about.
This makes me laugh (almost) …. I try to keep mine under 200
I delete a lot every day that I don’t even read. I recently switched so I am able to access e-mails from my phone which has really helped…I take care of some while I am waiting in dr. offices, etc. I think we, as woman, always have that TO DO list, and some thing always seems to be stuck on it. I also have to schedule the time to take care of these things that just BUG me, or sometimes I even pay to have someone else do it (my children, at a VERY reasonable price) 
REALLY enjoyed the article!
Oh, you’re doing good with the emails. I have hundreds in my inbox, but that’s email updates from blogs that I follow. I try to limit the time I spend on the computer now, so I’m not always able to visit everyone that I’d like. I give myself to Sunday to get through as many as I can, and then I delte the rest and start over again on Monday
Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 
Seems like it is always worse in my head too, but once I tackle it I realize it was not as daunting as I thought it would be.
I loved your blog. Everyday I delete several but the number keeps creeping up. I appreciate all the suggestions and I’m going to try them. My problem is that I have other computer projects and I feel I must get to them first. I feel like an email hoarder!
Thanks so much for the post. I am encouraged to tackle those things that nag at me and drain my energy.
Thank you! This blog post was an answer to prayer. Just this evening I was bemoaning my email inbox and asking for advice on Facebook. I’m a mother who works from home as an Usborne consultant, freelance writer, attorney (working part-time), and a few other odd jobs – and email is one thing I’m struggling with right now. I’m glad I took the time (while cleaning out the inbox) to read your post.
This was the perfect post for me today! This will be one of those “back-burner” days Heather talked about. And first? Starting with the checkbook
.
I *love* reading all the great ideas and getting the energy to get up and go do it! Thank you to Glynnis and all of you ladies! Phil 4:13 for Pete’s sake lol
I really needed to hear this today, Glynnis. Thanks for your transparency – it’s a blessing to me. Blessings to you.
When I was working I had at least 100+ emails a day and was very efficient at keeping them under control in that I made folders for each company I dealt with and then by “issue”. At first, if there were emails that needed followed up on (after read) I’d flag them but then so many RED FLAGS kinda got on my nerves! haha My emails were my way to cover my butt since I couldn’t remember everything a customer or coworker sent me or talked about so I finally discovered the Ctrl +F function and just either put in keywords in the subject/body of email or in the “from” and typed their name in. EVERYTHING I needed was at my fingertips! If you work for a company that limits your email amount there should be a way to dump a certain amount into a folder on your hard drive. It was so liberating not to have to remember so much and always have a backup. People actually asked me how I did it and I was more than happy to show them because they would come to ME for the info when in fact they too had it in their own emails but couldn’t find it! Hope this helps.
Also, the “create rules” helped me too in Outlook where if something came from a certain person you can create a “rule” that it goes directly to the folder you specify but it is still marked unread so it doesn’t get lost.
But… don’t you miss Seth Godin?
I just went thru an “unsubscribe” attack on my gmail account. But, you’ll be happy to know that I passed over you because I need to hear what you say. I need to let my mind process your posts and you are really helping me focus, so thank you.
Glad I’m not alone on things that bug us! For me, it’s also keeping emails to 100 (or less!) and balancing business and personal checkbooks. Altho I use a software program, it takes hours of time (including small interuptions
)to enter debits, credits, etc. When I finish and the ckbooks are balanced, I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me and the dark cloud hovering over me is NO MORE (until the next month! LOL)!!! 
ok-great point-going out to mow the backyard!
Oh how I hate when e-mails pile up – I feel so much better when I don’t have to scroll down the screen to see e-mails. My husband asked me to check something in his e-mail this a.m. (an e-mail that he sent me that didn’t get in my inbox) and he had 1830 e-mails!!! Granted, the majority are “junk” or “jokes” but it still drives me crazy!
I must confess that I am so bad at reading the email and mentally telling myself to get back to it “later.” However, with Sometimers beginning (you know, where sometimes the memory works and sometimes it doesn’t) I usually get back to it months later. By then it is a mute point but my inbox stays around 800+ messages – all read but few dealt with – and that is with folders to put them in! Thanks for the message! I am looking forward to reading your book and participating in the study, but I still have to get the book!
Too many e-mails in an inbox really bug my husband–it’s a good thing we don’t share e-mail because I have way too many. I am glad to have seen the tip in the first comment. But right now it’s my office that bugs me–in complete disarray! I am a clutterer. I will get off the computer and try at least to put things in stacks. I am looking forward reading your book and participating in the study.
Lunches for kids – you left out the obvious, traditional peanut butter and jelly sandwich! For something different, try grilling it like a grilled cheese! Peanut butter and honey his also excellent!
Thanks for the lunch ideas – my kids have been taking their lunches to the Y camp while I am at work so ideas are great. Some of ours have been – microwaveable mac & cheese, jello(made ourselves), cut up apples,strawberries, pear-apples, peanut butter sandwhiches, Hormel Complete microwavable dinners, various frozen one person entree dinners, microwavable ravioli. Last year they took Lunchables a lot and this year I’m trying to teach them how to be a little more economical about it by dividing up a can of fruit in containers, making their own sandwiches, putting chips in baggies etc. It takes a little longer but I’m thinking I need to prepare them for their college days so they know how to eat less expensively. They are 14, 12, and 10 so it won’t be that much longer! Love all your tips!
I loved this post and it is sooooo true, so I loved all the ideas. My little one who is four loves what she calls “roll rolls”, it is a small flour tortilla with peanut butter, bologna,or even veggies and cream cheese. So easy and she loves them.
Hi Glynnis,
I’m writing to add some healthy lunch & snack ideas for hungry
kids as you requested. Smoothies are easy to make with fruit, add baby spinach, which is tasteless in a strawberry/banana smoothie, add protein powder, O.J. & ice cubes; cheese sticks with some wheat Triscuits, whole wheat Scoops with salsa, nuts, peanut butter on celery and add raisins for “bumps on a log,” cubed apples with raisins in a cup and mix some mayo + milk + small amount of sugar for a flavorful dressing–serve in a cup eat for easy handling!
And, thank you for all your great tips!