What were you thinking?

When I mentioned the big question that I knew was on the way in my last post, was it perhaps something along the line of: “What about all the emails I don’t get to each day?  What about all the emails I have never gotten to over the past week … past month … past year(s)? What about the emails I would read IF I only had time?”

There are really only two choices:

1. Save them
2. Delete them

You haven’t gotten to them yet … the odds are not in your favour that you will get to them any time in the near future.  The chances of magically developing more hours in your day to read them are close to nil … unless, of course, you are actually implementing your baby steps to success.  Then – there is hope.  But, it is only a small pinpoint on a very distant horizon at this time.

It’s harsh to say it, but I will.  If you haven’t read a business email that arrived in the last week, you have lost an opportunity and it isn’t likely to reappear … although, if the potential client is really patient they might give you the benefit of the doubt it you contact them TODAY.  If it’s been a month or more on business emails – give up – you’re toast on any opportunity that might have been there.  No one will wait that long for your response.

The best and correct response here is to definitely DELETE all emails over a year old.

You haven’t opened them, you have no idea what they are about, they are wasting important space in your mailbox and they are useless at this point.

I know, I know. 

• You can’t bear to delete them –- you must know what you missed –- you feel guilty -- you’re one of those people who can’t throw out paper too, aren’t you? 
• Fine.  For you … make a little folder that says “unread emails 2007” (also 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.  Yes, I know you’ve been hoarding).  By the way, are your income taxes up to date?
• Click ‘sort by date’; select all the emails you want to file in the folder and drag and drop them there now.  Make a separate folder for each year (or whatever category you choose). 
• Do them all at one time. Get it over with.  It will waste an hour or two (well, maybe a day or two) but it will be done.
• You may as well sing a little good-bye song to them while you’re at it. I bet you $10 you’ll never open that folder again. 
• But, if it makes you happy to file them … file away. At least you’re practicing filing which is, of itself, a baby step to success.

This year, when you book your vacation through the road warrior, choose a pleasant location that has wifi service; take your trusty little laptop along with you and spend your entire vacation looking through all the emails from previous years that you never had time to look at.  There … doesn’t that sound like fun?  It would be wise to take your vacation alone too since, if you follow through on this, it is highly likely all your future vacations will be alone. Not even April, the romance coach, will be able to help you out of this one.

To purging (in a good way) …

Sue Crutcher, Life Empowerment Mentor and Success Coach

Baby Steps to Success