hey amber rae

rant on email + inbox zero

Every time I hear “goal: inbox zero” it bothers me. Don’t get me wrong, I like having a clean inbox. But when I think of my inbox as a goal, I think of Drill Sergeant Amber, furiously replying and archiving, without any care going into my words. I’ve been there. I don’t like that Amber. So I’ve been trying a new approach. Now, I like to think of my inbox as a hobby. It’s a way for me to move my dreams and ambitions forward, and it’s how I communicate with the people whom I care for and those who I feel I can help. Just like any hobby, I do it in my personal time for pleasure. When I have something really exciting brewing, I’ll check my inbox more frequently. I don’t pressure myself to respond to all emails, particularly the ones that don’t resonate with me. They are distracting. I click archive, remind myself that saying no to them is saying yes to myself, and I smile. I’ve stopped apologizing if I can’t reply within hours because I have other things taking up my attention. Most importantly, I put great care and thought into the emails that matter as I never want the communication around my dreams, ambitions and the important people in my life to be a task. They are the loves of my life. 

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Notes

  1. executivecontour said: Inbox as hobby = luxury. You don’t have the job that most people do where an inbox is a constant source of pain with people breathing down their neck for something they wanted 5 minutes ago, which in turn is keeping them from doing their best work.
  2. heyamberrae posted this