Delete button is your friend for unread emails
Dear Annie: As of this writing, I have 6,972 unread emails. A lot of them are promotions from stores I shopped at once. Some are from social media sites, telling me I have notifications — Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest — which I hardly ever check.
I guess I never got into the habit of deleting these messages as they came in, and then once the pile started growing, it just seemed so overwhelming that I gave up even trying.
In some cases, I have emails from people I would like to talk to. For instance, my cousin, whom I haven’t talked to in over a year, emailed me last month. I’ve kept putting it off. Now it’s been so long I feel awkward about replying.
After I click “send” on this email to you, I’m going to have anxiety about seeing your response. What is wrong with me? I feel paralyzed. How can I begin to tackle this? Inbox Infinity
Dear Inbox: Procrastination and anxiety are each other’s best cheerleader. Anxiety encourages procrastination, and vice versa. Remove one of them and you’ll deflate the other. So start by calming down. Tell yourself, “Nothing catastrophic is going to happen because I didn’t delete emails.” Although such a laissez-faire attitude might seem counterproductive, it’s a lot easier to get moving once you take that enormous weight off your shoulders.
Then snap to it and get that inbox under control, first by plugging the dam so you can prevent floods of promotional emails in the future. Open the latest email you received, and scroll to the bottom. Look for the “unsubscribe” button (in microscopic font). Do that for every major vendor that’s flooding your inbox.
Next, delete with abandon. Resist the urge to save emails “just in case.”
Dear Annie: I read the letter from “Miffed,” about her experience with a friend who was not there for her during a medical scare. I, too, had a friend who I thought would always be there for me. However, when my husband and was given a very upsetting diagnosis, she was not there. No phone call, no visit, nothing. Also, the day after he was released from the hospital, his mother died. Again, nothing from this friend whom I had been so very close to.
It took me a while to get over the anger and hurt and to move on without her in my life. I was able to focus on the good things and the good people in my life who were there for me. I hope “Miffed” will move on and appreciate what her other friends and family members did and realize that this person is no longer of importance in her life. Over Being Miffed