28 Jan
I Read Them, But Do I Reply?
This week (meaning on Tuesday) I committed to not writing any more “real” posts until I cleaned out my inbox entirely (I currently have 171 messages to take care of, all of them from real people who wrote important things and some of them have been sitting there since June of last year), which is why you haven’t heard from me. As That Husband can attest my inbox constantly has me feeling overwhelmed, and raging pregnancy hormones have led me to drag myself to bed crying because another day has gone by without me being able to say I’ve finally conquered it. So I’m ending it today, this week, this month. No more real posts on That Wife until the inbox officially says “0 of 0″ in the top right corner.
Then I can finally stay on top of Resolution #5 on my list**.
*And by “real” I mean the kind you have come to expect from me, either photos summaries of my rare adventures, photo tips, birth/pregnancy mumbo-jumbo, or my views on life that ultimately lead to at least 10 different people feeling like I have personally insulted them, their mother, and their pet goldfish Albert.
**In other news, I think I have models for my concept shoot. And some ideas!
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
You can do it!!! I recently gave myself this #inboxzero project too! I’m down to 20. I think it’s taken me 5 months… but, by gosh, I’m almost done!
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1have you organized your gmail into multiple inboxes? if not, you really must. it makes dealing with blog related emails sooo much easier and less stressful.
also, canned responses help, too!
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2I would say that’s a respectable goal. I hope you are able to get a lot accomplished. Sounds like quite the undertaking, but I know you can do it!
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3I did this before Christmas, and it made starting the new year sooooo much easier!
And I’m super excited to see the results of your concept shoot! They’re one of my favorite things to do, and I’m sure you’re going to fall in love, too.
Happy Replying!
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4Best of luck getting organized! And I don’t see why people can’t either be respectful or keep their nasty thoughts to themselves. It’s not hard, we’re all grownups.
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5Prioritize, prioritize! If the emails are causing you distress, then absolutely focus your energy there. TW readers will sit it out and wait
Patiently, I swear.
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6I can so relate to this. Sometimes I feel like I’m held hostage by my “to-reply” list.
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7Good luck! I need to do this. I think I have over 1,000 emails in my inbox - granted, they’ve been read, but they need to be filed or deleted! It takes forever & is very overwhelming to think about doing it!! Good for you
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8Thank goodness for the Archive button on gmail. I treat my inbox as a to-do list (as it sounds like you do too) and after I’ve “done” whatever the email requires (usually just reply), I archive it. I’m starting to use the filters and labels more so I don’t have to see all of my Groupon and BananaRepublic emails until I’m actually going to do something with them. Having an Inbox that says 0 of 0 is an amazing feeling! You can do it. Oh, one last thing - I often put my gmail in offline mode when I’m trying to clear it out. That way I can’t chat, receive new emails, go online, etc. and I just focus on clearing my gmail. This works best on airplanes (where I’ve been spending so much time)! Attn everyone - don’t email Jenna for a few days so she can see zero!
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9I was wondering what happened to you! Glad you’re well, and reducing that stress/overwhelming inbox.
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10I think you are referring to Dan and I for your concept shoot?
Hoorah!!
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11Good Luck! The hard part is when you are doing so well and for every 5 you respond to you get another 5. I’ve found that it’s nearly impossible for me to ever be at 0 messages no matter what I do. I’m sure that you can do it!!!
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