#027 - Take Control of Your Inbox

Hey, friends, as we're going into this new year, it's a great time to reflect, to reorganize, to set some new goals. And one thing I think that is overlooked many times is just simply taking control of your inbox. It's really easy to let it grow wieldy and out of control and all of these emails coming into your inbox at all the time. And then every time you open your email, it's easy to feel overwhelmed or just like, stuck or like, then you're missing important emails that you really do need. And so this happened to me. And years and years ago, I, I saw this, this blog post by Pat Flynn about getting to Inbox Zero. And you know, he just recommended if you were like, at a place of like, thousands and thousands and thousands of emails to just consider pulling off the band aid and deleting all of these emails and starting from scratch. And it was scary because it's like, what if there are emails in there that I really do need? And, and I kind of did a glance through with some of them, but there was a point where I had so many emails in my inbox and I just, I took his advice and I started with a clean slate. Now, I'm not saying that all of you need to do that, but I also help my mom get control of her inbox a few years ago, and, you know, we did that with her. There's also a tool called Unroll Me that will identify all your email subscriptions and help you to start to unsubscribe. But what I have found to be one of the easiest ways to start to get control of your inbox is first of all, set your intention and know, like, what is your focus for this season right now and what email lists are really life giving to you? Which ones do you want to stay on? Or do you have a good relationship with that person that you want to stay on their email list? And which ones are just not what you need right now. It doesn't mean that you're rejecting them. It doesn't mean that you're, you know, that you can't subscribe to that email list again in the future. It just means that you're taking a break and you're. There are seasons. And so, you know, I encourage you to think and ask the Lord, what is my focus in this season? And then unsubscribe. I am fierce about unsubscribing to anything that isn't life giving to me or isn't helpful to me in this current season. And that way I keep my inbox.

More calm, right, Instead of getting into all of the chaos. Now, some of them might be places you've signed up, like, even retail shops like Target or Bath and Body Works or something. And you, you like maybe getting those emails because there's sometimes coupons in them. You can always create some sort of filter. Like in Gmail, you can filter things into a certain folder so that those just go into that folder, and then you can just check that folder when you're looking for a coupon. But for me, like, I one time got on the Bath and Body Works email list, and they were sending me multiple emails a day, and it was annoying. And I was like, I just. I just can't do this, you know, and so I unsubscribed. And, you know, if I want to get on their list again and get their. Their coupon codes and all that stuff again, I can sign up at that time. So can you. Same thing with Kohl's. I just unsubscribed. And. And I know it's hard, you know, to think about that sometimes, but like I said, you can either create a filter or you can even just create a separate email address on Gmail that you have just for those kind of promotional emails. And then, you know, you just check in there at certain times, but then that just creates another monster, and then you just. You have another inbox of chaos. And so I. I don't think that's really the.

Really, the. I don't really think. I don't think that really solves the problem. What really solves the problem is either, like I said, creating these filters and these things that it will go into certain boxes, and then you can just check them when you want to. And what really, at the root of it gets to the root of the issue is unsubscribing. And you've got to do it. It's. It's setting a boundary, and it's saying, I want my. My inbox to be calm. I want to go from chaos to calm. And you can do that. I mean, I have been working diligently at this for years, and I'm not even sure how many years now. I, I want to say it was 2015, so it's probably been seven years now. And my inbox is fine. Like, I actually don't mind going into my. My email. And I have boundaries, I have systems, I have things that I do. And then I have a separate place where we handle customer support for our business. But for you What I want you to do, I want you to think of these two things. Number one, what is your main focus, intention, your main goals right now? And then number two, every day when you're coming into your inbox, if you, even if you don't do the clean sweep like I did years ago.

As you see emails that you're like, oh, I don't really need these anymore, then just click into it, scroll to the bottom, click, unsubscribe and delete. Click into it, scroll to the bottom, click unsubscribe, delete. If you do that, even like five a day. So let's say you unsubscribe from five things a day, you are going to get there. It is a snowball effect. Like, you will get to that place where eventually you'll come into your inbox, you'll be like, huh? It's only like the really important things. And you know, my friends or, you know, the things that I really want are in here now and then. So number one, know your focus and attention. Number two, begin fiercely unsubscribing every day. So every day you go into your inbox, at least do one, even if it's just one. But if you can do five, just take, you know, five minutes and begin unsubscribing. And then the third one is be very intentional on who you subscribe to for your email list, to their email list, or who you give your email to. You know, just, just really consider, like who you do that to. And then if you do want to sign up for a lead magnet or something, you know, you may want to be on their list for a week or two or maybe a month and then decide, is this serving me? And if it's not, you know, it is okay to sign up for something for a lead magnet and even immediately unsubscribe, it's okay to do that. And people know that when you know, like I know that you may sign up to my email list and it may not be serving you and you may unsubscribe. And we have lots of people that unsubscribe from our email list, but we have many, many, many more that stay. And those are our people. You know, those, those. You are our people. If you're listening to HITS plus, you are our people. And so be diligent. And I encourage you. This is a challenge. It is hard to do, but those are your three steps. Let me repeat it again. Number one, know what your current goal is, your intention, what you really want and need in your inbox right now. Number two, fiercely unsubscribe. So every day that you go into your inbox and you see something that you're like, you know, I really don't need this right now. Click into it, scroll to the bottom, unsubscribe, delete. So, number one, know what your current goal is, your intention. Number two, fiercely unsubscribe every day. Number three, be intentional on where, where you give your email list or what list you're subscribing to. So I hope that this was encouraging. I know that this can be a huge issue. It was for me. It has been for my and, you know, it's one of those things that it can get out of control really fast. And so I just hope you'll take a little bit of time today and begin taking control of your inbox.