Do you know how many “inboxes” do you have? Perhaps more than you thought. When I talk about inboxes, I am stretching the term a bit more than traditional email inbox (which first comes to mind). If we start identifying “inbox” as anything that receives external inputs that require our attention, then it becomes much larger than just an email. And here is a surprise – we all have a lot of them, but we may not know what we actually have. Often, we feel overwhelmed because information and tasks seem to come at us at random, out of nowhere. It’s because we don’t monitor all our inboxes, as many of them are out of sight during our everyday life. And since they are out of sight, they are often neglected. The better approach is to know what you have and come up with a plan on how to deal with it.
Dealing with inboxes is simple – check them periodically. When you check an entry in your inbox, there are only a few things that you can do with it. Specifically, you can either make it a task (if there is something you need to do about it), store it as a reference (no actions, but useful information), or delete it (if it’s not relevant to you). And if you start “processing” all your inboxes that way, you will get more control of your life and will feel better.
So, take the first step and identify all your inboxes. Here are some examples of the inboxes that a person may have. Take your time and complete the list for yourself.
- emails you received or sent (likely, multiple accounts)
- asks and information from your boss or co-workers
- asks and information from your family
- your calendar with events and reminders
- your social life activities
- paper mail, that comes to your house
- communication coming from your child’s school
- your own thoughts and notes
- websites bookmarks and reading lists
- voice and text messages you receive and send
- photos and videos you took
- your banks, investment and retirement accounts
- household chores and projects
- shopping lists