I have a problem. An addiction. I'm a slave to my inbox. Outlook is my Everest. I yearn to silence it, to control it. But (wifi permitting) emails continue to flow. I hate to lose the fight, but I'm not smart enough to change the rules to even give me a sporting chance.
It started with a simple proposition. If I could end the day with fewer emails in my inbox at the end of the day than at the start, then that would be a win. This would mean that I stayed on top of my tasks (naively assuming my duties and emails were directly linked), but also I would not be one of "those people" who ignores other people's emails. The tidiness of it appealed to the Virgo in me.
At a strategy session I was presented with a 2x2 diagram that starkly highlighted just where I was going wrong. My interpretation of it is below:
So the assumption that email represented my work duties was nuts. Yes, I can hold my head up when it comes to the important and urgent issues (most of the time). But, I have definitely been guilty of putting off the important, not urgent for another day. It's been easy to justify because I may have ended up sending a bunch of emails and even beating my inbox that day.
But my inbox is a myopic, self-centered little bastard who wants all my attention. He also wants me to fail on my longer term tasks. Even if I mark something as a "task" and move it, he knows that the lure of an unread email is too much for me. In short, I am my inbox's bitch.
At this stage, you're probably expecting some insight into how I overcame this and became a better person, a better colleague, better boss, better husband, better father. But I haven't overcome it. I'm at the epicentre of it. I'm slightly better than I have been in that I've acknowledged the problem. I've even thought of things I might do to help counter it - mind maps of longer term goals, "black out" times from email, pre-defined filters. But, I always end up being distracted by emails.
Once I've answered every email ever, I will be a free and productive man. I will jump on Outlook's grave and celebrate, but after a few minutes I'll probably check my phone for emails.
The thought of the silence terrifies me.
