Blog
by Roger G. Best
O.K., let’s be honest here… Is your relationship with the messages in your life a bit sloppy? Do look at the messages you receive as some sort of a virtual hug that requires a pass-back? Do you keep emails in your inbox for weeks (possibly months) even though you know in your deep down in your “knower” that the likelihood of you ever getting back to it are roughly equivalent a July snow storm in Houston, TX? If you had to answer “yes” to any of these questions, we’ve still got some work to do… Maybe, an attitude adjustment would be in order. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. Delete, delete, delete.
The first and best filter in your email processing scheme hast to start with you! It must involve the decision to very quickly decide whether a given message can be deleted or archived immediately upon receipt. You’ve heard the old saying; “it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack”. The key is that once you reduce the amount of hay in your particular stack, the needles start revealing themselves. Kill junk, kill pseudo-junk, kill anything that smells of junk and then kill all the stuff to which you will never respond. Whatever’s left is yours to return. That’s where your actual, useful job lives.
Believe it or not, deleting fast and well is actually one of the most difficult skills to master, since it requires you to be straight with yourself starting from the moment a new message arrives. Ask yourself a few quick questions… Is there an action here? Will I really respond to this email? Or, will I, more likely, just let it sit there for an hour or a day or a decade while I ruminate (in case you’ve never actually looked up the definition of that word, it means to “chew the cud or to muse) upon its significance? OH, there may even be another option: Will I put it into some lame “pending” folder in hopes that it will magically transform into something interesting?
Just remember that every email you read, re-read, and re-re-re-re-re-read as it sits in that big dumb pile is actually incurring mental debt on your behalf. The interest you pay on email you’re reluctant to deal with is compounded every day. Think about it.
So, seriously, if you’re not going to do anything with a message, just get it out of your sight, and make room for the actionable messages in your life. Delete it, or — if you’re a big chicken like me — archive it. In any case, remember that if this were something you really wanted to and could respond to, you would have done it the second it arrived.
When this particular attitude on response and deletion moves from “interesting speculative theory” to “how you operate,” you’ll no longer have to fear and despise the delete key. Responding may be better than deleting, but deleting is way better than first slacking for 6 months then finally, reluctantly deleting.
Concentrate on deletion as a way to reduce the hay in the haystack. If the little voice says “You’re never going to answer this,” consider listening. If the little voice is wrong, respond then and there, no exceptions.
Hope this helps (if you do it, it will help),
Roger