So how are you doing with the "You've Got {Too Much} Email" challenge? I know some of you have been deleting emails in large chunks and that's fantastic!
Just a reminder for those who feel overwhelmed by the number of emails you have, you can just spend a few minutes a day and you'll be surprised how much those minutes add up.
If you're just joining in and you missed the introductory post, you can click here to read all about the challenge.
Every Monday evening I post my update on how many emails I deleted during that week. So here is this week's update!
I deleted 250 emails this week. Nothing like my 3000+ emails last week, but my minimum goal each week is 250 and I'm happy to have achieved that.
Why so few this week? We decided a week ago to go on vacation so this past week was busy with preparations.
I'm so happy for the accountability of this challenge though. I doubt I would have deleted any this week if I didn't have to report back with my numbers!
This week most of the emails I deleted were old blog posts on leadership, social media, time management, and blogging. These were blogs I subscribed to a couple of years ago, when I was developing my skills in these areas.
Before deleting the emails, I pinned some of them on these Pinterest boards:
How neat is that? You can read some of the emails I deleted!
Now you may be saying, "Isn't the point of this challenge to actually DELETE emails? Why are you pinning them? Isn't that defeating the purpose?" You were thinking that, weren't you? :)
I'm glad you asked! Here's the thing: when these blog posts were in email folders, I NEVER looked back at them, and the number of emails in my folders just kept growing, which was overwhelming to me.
In Pinterest form, I can group the content into the appropriate categories, and when I'm searching for information or tips on a particular topic, I can find them easily.
To me, it's a win-win solution! I love when that happens :)
And, to clarify, I deleted most of those emails. Out of 250 blog posts, I only pinned 24. So 90% went straight into the Trash folder.
During this challenge, I've been coming across other bloggers who have shared motivation and tips for managing your inbox and I thought it would be great to share them with you each week.
Here's a blog post from Simplify 101 (one of my favourite organizing blogs!). It has suggestions for the project phase (what we're currently doing in this challenge) and the maintenance phase (changing your habits so you don't get an overwhelming inbox again). Click the link below the picture to check it out!
 |
| Simplify 101: Organizing Your Email In-Box |
I've included tips in the other update posts in this series, so if you've missed any of them, here's a list of all of them.
Why delete emails, how the challenge works & free tracking sheet
More on how the challenge works & "Done is better than perfect"
Tips for deleting "Easy" emails
Don't forget, you can join this challenge at any time! You can choose to do a little bit each day or week or just jump in and do a bunch all at once.
If you haven't downloaded your free spreadsheet or free printable tracking chart, click the appropriate link to get yours and then jump in and start deleting!
So have you been deleting emails? What's your motivation? What kind of emails have you been deleting?
Share your tips and progress in the comments so we can all encourage each other!
Check out the Challenges tab to see the rest of the posts in the series!
I'm enjoying sharing this journey with you. We're all in this together :) Here's to a less overwhelming inbox!
I link up at these great parties - Check them out!
