Over the last few months, I’ve been making some changes to the structure of my business (behind the scenes stuff) and planning for an expansion. As a result of my business becoming a little more complex, I decided to simplify my life. I’m starting with my email inbox.
Why start there? Why start with email? Because every morning when I look at all the messages that showed up overnight, sometimes hundreds of them, I feel a sense of overwhelm, stress, urgency. And as I read those messages, I notice that occasionally, I feel pressure to buy, pressure to catch a sale or a good deal, pressure to make sure I’m not missing some crucial new marketing strategy…yuck!
I decided that it had to stop! I deserve “inbox peacefulness!” So, every morning for the last week, I’ve analyzed each and every mass e-mail I’ve received, considered what else I’ve learned from the sender since subscribing, determined if it’s worth receiving again, and unsubscribed to anything I’ve deemed unworthy. I’ve also unsubscribed to marketing lists for companies I’ve ordered from (I’m such an online ordering fiend that the Citibank Fraud Early Warning Unit has me on speed-dial).
What a difference it’s made. Just taking that extra 15 minutes each day to unsubscribe to anything that isn’t really informing me of something I need has improved the average quality of my inbox. And, I’ve noticed that my stress level has dropped, my productivity has increased, and I just feel better.
Amazing, how big the results of something so simple can be!
P.S. If you start cleaning out your own inbox, don’t unsubscribe from the Business in Blue Jeans e-zine, for heaven’s sake! 🙂
