Like to get your inbox empty by Christmas?

Many of us feel increasingly anxious as we approach Christmas as a result of all the unfinished business we’d like to have under control before our holidays. This is especially the case when it comes to the inbox, which is often a barometer of how well we are keeping up with our workload.

An overloaded inbox causes stress

The inbox is often filled with a backlog of weeks or months of old work yet to be accomplished, messages that need a reply (including an apology for being so tardy), and irrelevant messages that need to be weeded out.

Even if none of the emails require any action, they are still ‘unfinished business’ which requires filing or deleting at some point in the future, (either by us as an individual or the IT department).

This backlog of unfinished email creates a ‘psychological drag’ that slows down our mental clarity and focus. Many of us report feelings of being overwhelmed, guilty and ‘out-of-control’ - there’s often a nagging, subconscious sense we’re not keeping up with everything; that our work is never up-to-date; that we’re constantly playing ‘catch up’.

It also slows you down in other areas of work, cluttering your focus and attention, especially when you need to think deeply, deal with complex issues or be creative. As Gretchen Rubin has written in her book ‘The Happiness Project’, “When unfinished tasks are put off for a long time, they end up haunting us, making us feel unsatisfied and robbing us of our energy.” Can you relate to that?

How much email causes stress?

In a recent Harris Interactive survey, 94% of people said the most amount of email they can receive before feeling some degree of stress is 50 messages. So, how many are sitting in your inbox right now?

By contrast, an empty inbox is a delight to look at - it makes you feel empowered, calm, in control and up-to-date. Another quote from Gretchen’s book says “External chaos has a disproportionate impact on our inner calm.”

Getting the inbox under control at any time improves your morale. You have time, energy and mental space for higher priorities, creative tasks and meaningful engagement with colleagues and clients. It also forces you to start thinking about higher priority tasks and activities, as you can no longer just keep yourself busy attending to the inbox.

Making sure your inbox is empty, or at least under control, allows you relax as you prepare for your Christmas holidays so you can fully disengage from work and have the mental (and well as physical) break that you deserve.

So, would you like to get to your Christmas break with an empty inbox and a clear conscience?

How to get your inbox empty before Christmas

This one-page 'cheat sheet' will guide you through 3 quick and easy steps you can take to get your inbox empty right now so that you can head off for your Christmas holiday without having to worry about all the unfinished business in your inbox.

Steps 1 and 2 will show how to get your inbox empty in less than 60 seconds and then step 3 shows you how to process the backlog of e-mails in the New Year. The 4D process you learn for processing your backlog will also help you keep your inbox under control in 2020.

By the way, here are 5 ways I can help you get control of email:

Steuart Snooks