These days, I’ve been organising my emails on my phone during idle times of the day when I’m just looking after Rapha while he’s playing.
Why am I doing this and why am I doing this the long way?
*To have a bigger view of what has happened in the past years. These were years where we experienced milestone upon milestone and it’s good to look back on what we did right, even if that means seeing things and messages that remind me of the ugly parts of these years.
*Building the habit of purging and simplifying things. As a new mum, direct, simple, doable tasks are recommended. I am honestly baffled by my wonderful skill of complicating simple things. I am slowly learning what simple looks like because of this process. Having a clean break helps me propel myself toward the things I wanted to pursue instead of getting lost in all the noise the other messages provide me.
Here were some of my insights as I went through this exercise:
1. If only I took the time to process things as they come, it wouldn’t blow up to 6k emails. To be fair with me, these were years when I had depression. I couldn’t even bring myself to wake up, let alone clean out my emails. Still, doing little bits consistently is extremely helpful.
2. I missed out on good reading materials which were only relevant for a certain time.
3. I missed out on initiatives I started but wasn’.t able to follow through because my inbox was too crowded. It’s not too late, though. Some of those items are still worth going back to.
4. Rubbish taking space in my inbox. Unnecessary information and even emails from people I’d rather not deal with anymore were still there. Now I can finally, officially, digitally say adios!
5. On the flip side, missing out on responding to people who matter, because their messages were again buried in the pile of rubbish that is my inbox
6. Greater appreciation that things come and go. When you read on your history through your emails, you see the different phases of your life in a more zoomed-out view. You can map out the high and low moments you had. I’ve learnt the value of cherishing the beauty of each season. And if you’re in a bad season, know that they change and there is hope for a more beautiful one.
All those insights from weeding out my emails. Whew! Learn from some of my mistakes and organise yours now hehehe!
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