image by Alexander Novikov | Dreamstime.com
Almost a month ago, my wife, the kids and I went to visit her family for a week. Before leaving, I made preparations to be less connected to the internet. I have a tendency to be distracted from family by e-mail, etc., so I took Michael Hyatt’s advice and was intentional going into the week about e-mail.
As his post explains, I set up the account to send to the archives every message that didn’t have the word “urgent” in it so that only pressing matters came through. I then set up a response e-mail that explained to put the word urgent in the e-mail if it needed to get through to me.
Only a few things came up that needed my attention while I was gone, and I was able to give more attention to the family.
On my return, I was surprised to notice how many of the e-mails waiting for me were advertisements. With a fresh appreciation for an empty inbox, I went through the majority of those promotional e-mails and unsubscribed.
For the promotional e-mails that are important to my job/family, I set up filters so they would go under a certain folder when they come in. That way, I can look at them at the appropriate time, and they slow me down less in the e-mail checks throughout the day.
So, I more frequently enjoy an empty inbox.
Could you cut down on the unnecessary e-mails that are coming to you?