Caveat: Totally off topic (sort of).
For some reason, I grow uneasy if I have more than ten emails unanswered in my inbox. I’ll stay at my computer late, I’ll forego creature comforts, if it means I can get the message queue down to ten or less before I sleep.
Lately this has become difficult, as the number of fun and/or important time requests, or reads/groks/responds, or emails that force other actions have risen to the point where my inbox often demands more of me than I can reasonably give.
A quick spin through my inbox reveals: A great paper to read from a colleague; I can’t respond to him till I read it, so it stays in my queue. There’s an appointment to book when I next go to New York, and a Very Important Person who’s emailed me wondering if we’re on. But I can’t confirm till I get an email from someone else, so…it stays in the queue. A voicemail from another New Yorker (I get vmail as email, thanks to VOIP), which I can’t delete till I call them back, and it’s too late to call, so the email stays in the queue. There’s an invitation to a breakfast panel, but I am attempting to limit my time now, as it’s All About the Book. Still, the person asking is great, and I would very much like to be in the company of smart people, it always proves fun and worth the time. I can’t make up my mind, so … the email stays in the queue. There are three comments from smart Searchbloggers, each with valid and interesting points which merit followup, but they require that I think, and think judiciously, and it’s late, and my kids are home so… their email stays in the queue. And so on. I’m down to 15, but I can’t seem to kill the last five….
Am I insane? Does anyone else manage their life this way? More to the point… does anyone have a better way?
PS – This is post #999 of Searchblog. Cool!