Happiness is a Clean Inbox

I have one email in my Inbox right now. Yep, just one. That feels pretty good.

That's not how it was a couple of hours ago. Yesterday and today, I was in a solid string of meetings and classes and did not have breaks to screen and process incoming email. By the time I started to seriously clear the file, there were three-plus screens of emails to process, which are quite a few after just two days. People seem to be tumbling over each other to post their thoughts. Screens and screens of emails make me almost physically uncomfortable. Panic sets in. Delay and procrastination freeze my fingers. I need to practice deep breathing exercises as I methodically answer, file or delete the emails.

My habit is to sort and store emails in a couple dozen folders in Outlook. Those folders house the archives of my colleagues and the organization of my thoughts. The Inbox, on the other hand, represents active business that either needs to be attended to or is waiting for a reply from others. It's better than sticky notes in a day-timer. What's a day-timer? That's another blog.

Early in my career, I remember that most mail was, what is now called, snail mail. Looking at mail, meant physically opening sealed envelopes to see what the postman brought. I have a really cool letter opener with a carved wooden handle from those days, though it's sitting in at the bottom of my desk drawer now. I now use it to break down cardboard boxes from Amazon. Your "Inbox" was an open box on the corner of your desk that was, well, a box. During busy days, the paper correspondence flipped off the top of the pile when someone passed too close to your desk. Tottering mountains of correspondence would fall and scatter across the floor. 

Email has eliminated almost all postal piles and has kept the office floor relatively free of paper. In fact, I don't recall the last time I received an outside letter at the office: interoffice mail with sign-up sheets for the golf league doesn't count. The metal, wooden, or wire cage in-box has been replaced by computer monitor, keyboard, and CPU. The electronics take up a lot more room.

Back in the day, getting to the bottom of the Inbox meant you were caught up. Nothing more would come until the next mail delivery at 10 a.m. You could go home content that you had done your paper-pushing best. Now, the good feeling lasts only a moment until you start receiving emails in reply to the emails that you replied to just moments ago.

At the moment, however, I have just one email in my Inbox. It won't last, but, for now, it feels pretty good.