TRUE CONFESSION: My INBOX Overfloweth!
I have a confession to make: for the past few months, I have had a growing creature on the corner of my desk. It was my INBOX.
In the dark days of winter when I couldn’t face making decisions, everything went into my INBOX – for the “next” time I was at my desk; I would deal with it then.
It started out so innocently (4 years ago) like this:
(It was in better shape then.)
But the pile outgrew the box and reached the point where it couldn’t support itself. So I put it in this:
(See how nicely it fits!)
Alas, even that didn’t last and I had to find another box:
(See all the room around the red box? That’s extra space for “stuff!”
No question about it: my INBOX was threatening to physically take over my office, as well as burdening me with lots and lots of guilt. Mind you, I have a number of other baskets to cull, but they’re project files, not current items that keep me awake at night.
(This is “BEFORE”.)
I don’t know how she did it but my favourite organizing guru, Jen Hofmann at Inspired Home Office, threw me a life-preserver last week, in the form of her monthly newsletter, Juicy Gems. The subject line read: What to do with the baby elephant on your desk.
Jennifer wrote that newsletter especially for me; I know she did. So, I listened to her advice. It was brilliant!
I had my husband carry the box down to the dining room table, and I dumped it out upside down (one of Jen’s tactics). I spent many 5 minutes periods over the next couple of days standing (another two of Jen’s tips) at the table, sorting.
I pushed anything paper that was no longer relevant down to the edge of the table where my husband picked it up each time he walked past to go to the basement to feed the wood furnace. (Yet one more of Jennifer’s hints – not that the paper be burned, but that disposal be easy).
When I got to the bottom of my pile, I had several smaller piles that I knew exactly what to do with: file, return to shelf, put away in drawers, and so on. This was all in my INBOX – and probably half again as much paper but Bill took it away too fast to be photographed.
AND I have new INBOX:
(This is “AFTER”.)
I know it still looks like a lot to do, but it works for me. And I’m so proud that I just had to share it.
SO – what’s the state of your inbox? As bad as mine was? Worse?
This does look much more doable!
I’m juiced about it, Deb – I think I can have it cleared out in the next month. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
My inbox might just be a little bit worse than yours. That’s because the contents of my inbox are all over my living room. *sigh* I was just telling my mother that I should just set fire to everything and act like it never happened. 😉
Funny thing, Vasilly, you probably wouldn’t miss it much: so much of those things that kept me awake at night ended up being burned because they were no longer relevant. – But don’t set fire to your living room 😉
So true about not even missing the stuff. When I remodeled my office last year I had a similar pile(s) on my old desk. I moved it all to the guest room and stared at it for a few weeks. When I finally sorted through it, half of it were things I didn’t remember why I kept … like old mail, notes on scraps of paper and pages ripped out of magazines. As I gaze at my desk tonight, the pile looks about the size of the one you have now, and I hope to keep it that way.
I wonder, Leslie: would our lives have been better, or more precise, or detailed, or organized, or whatever, if we had done what we intended to do with each of those pieces of paper when they were new? It’s such a relief to get rid of them…but I always wonder.
I do this regularly … build up a huge pile, then sort into doable piles, but somehow there’s always one pile of “what to do” that becomes the basis of the next huge pile. Still, I feel good that I process 80%. That’s good isn’t it?
Oh, Sue – I think that’s what’s happening to that small pile again. It’s like sourbread starter!
My inbox is in piles, and I’m afraid to aggregate it, unless I can find a big box like yours! And no matter how much I do, there’s always lots more. Maybe Jen can help me, too . . . .
There’s always more to do, it seems, J.G. Have a look at Jen’s blog & newsletter (& her courses – I love them). She might be able to help 😉