How To Stop Being An Email Whore AND Having Quickies With Your Laptop

I have OCD… Obsessive CLEARING Disorder…If my email in boxhas anything in it, I feel like I have a PINK elephant sitting on my shoulders.Can we call that an Elephanty back? You know, like a piggyback, but for elephants. Okay, did I mention I probably also have ADD. Anyways, back to the topic. Oh wait, did I tell you guys about my crazy dream last night? Just kidding…Emails…

Somewhere between the extinction of Myspace and the parachute appearance of Periscope, emailing got confused with texting. Sure, we can blame it on smart phones and say “but my notifications pop up the same for both”, but I’m here to tell you, you need to turn off those darn notifications! Those things are ANNOYING anyways.

I mean, come on, while you’re online trying to read a totally incredible article * cough cough* and you can’t get through two lines because you have to keep swiping away “New Email from Gertrude…New Email from Claude…New Email from Josephine”. I have no idea where those names came from. Probably the 19 th century. Which in that case, they wouldn’t be emailing you. And if you’re reading this and that’s your name… umm…Thou art quite a lovely nameth. Okay, I’m sorry. My name is traitorous too.

Anyways, It’s about time we take a look at our relationships with our dot coms. You are allowed to take more than 5 seconds to respond to an email. Seesh, you are allowed to take 5 days if you want to! And that should be totally normal! We need to learn to let go of our fanatical ways and have a plan of action to clear our inboxes without having to check it 20 times a day.Whether it be your laptop, your phone, your iPad, your iWatch (can you checkmail on those? I don’t even know), its okay to keep your emails closed until you’re ready.

There’s a Time and Place for Everything

Studies have shown that constant email checking through out the day leads to less productivity. It’s kind of the “work smarter, not harder”mentality. If you limit your email checking to 2 to 3 times a day, you will not only feel less stressed, but you will waste less time. If you are like me, the thought of my email box filling up and not doing anything about it gives me anxiety, but we have to LET GO and think efficiency. You are going to get emails regardless, so whether you check them 100 times or 2 times, there is no avoiding it. Might as well spend the in-between hours taking care of other business and fully focusing on each task at hand.

Put Them In Their Places

If a guy gets out of hand, you need to put him in his place.Same goes for your inbox. If your emails get overloaded, put them into ‘their places’… IN FOLDERS! My favorite thing to do is categorize my emails. Create a few folders that suit your needs and stuff ‘em! I have one for work related emails, one for receipts, one for to-dos, a personal one, and the rest go tothe trash. This way, my inbox stays clear and I know where to find everything.Organization is tres chic!

If They Get On Your Nerves, Kick ‘Em To The Curb

I’m talking about spam. Or those billions of emails from all those stores that you gave your address to for a one-time discount…Two words UNSUBSCRIBE and DELETE! You don’t need all that junk in your life, or your inbox! If they keep popping up, it’s time for a restraining order, aka an“always blocked” list. You wouldn’t keep seeing someone who did nothing but bug you, so why fill your inbox with them? Say adios to the scrap! And DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT let them sit in your inbox. My mom used to always say a clustered space creates a clustered mind. Apply that theory to your email and CLEAR, CLEAN, and CREATE SPACE. Out with the old and in with the new!

Now that you have your new Email regimen, don’t get sick of it and search for something else! Stay faithful and you will have a happy,healthy, harmonious, um.. what were we talking about? Oh yeah, EMAIL BOX!