Do you ever open up your inbox in the morning and vow that this is gonna be the day you get caught up?

Getting to inbox zero would be like sitting on top of the world. EVERYTHING else would be easier. Nothing would slip through the cracks. Your mind would finally be at ease.

Let's pretend dreams do come true and you actually read, respond to, and file every email in your inbox. You get caught up! Woohoo! 🎉

But, because email is a conversation, all of those emails you send get responses. And tomorrow morning there will be more emails to read and respond to. And they'll continue coming in... today and the next day and the next.

Now, this is the moment where you choose one of two camps:

CAMP 1 - WHATEVER IT TAKES

Some of you will grit your teeth, bear down, and COMMIT to maintaining that inbox zero that you worked so hard for.

If you have to stay at your computer through lunch, rarely getting up throughout the day, fine.
If you have to be glued to your phone to triage any email that comes in, you’ll do it.
If you have to log in at night after the kids are asleep, that’s a price you’re willing to pay.

You got caught up and you are NOT going to fall behind again.

CAMP 2 - BACK WHERE YOU STARTED

Others of you will have a busy day that next day.

It’ll be full of meetings, interruptions, and unplanned projects that'll take you out of your inbox.
You might have a sick kid, a doctor’s appointment, or a last-minute trip, and your inbox will reflect just how distracted you’ve been.

You’ll end up right back where you started and feel disappointed, frustrated, and angry that your inbox is full AGAIN. You just got caught up!

CAMP 3 - A NEW WAY

What if there's a third camp?

A camp where you work really hard to get your inbox cleaned up. To get “caught up” as they say.

And the next day it all goes to shit with interruptions, distractions, and unplanned events and your inbox fills back up.

But instead of beating yourself up for “falling behind”. Or fighting to get “caught up” again, you remind yourself that this is life. And especially life as someone with a professional job and kids and a household to manage.

You are going to get emails. It’s how we communicate.

And the number of emails sitting in your inbox says nothing about how good you are at your job, or how organized, happy, or present you are.

They’re just emails.

They don’t have that kind of power over your life.

Only YOU can assign meaning to the size of your inbox.

WHAT DOES GETTING 'CAUGHT UP' EVEN MEAN?

If we all agree that emails are the way in which the world communicates, can you even envision a day where you aren’t continuously receiving new emails?

It’s like laundry. Unless you’re going to outsource (which if you have the means for that, what are you waiting for?!?) or commit to wearing dirty clothes, it’s going to be a part of your everyday life.

You can either resent it and work to constantly chase an ever-moving finish line or you can accept it as a part of life and just do what needs to be done.

Are there other areas of your life where you're trying to get “caught up”?

What would it mean to get “caught up”? Would it make you happier? Less stressed? More present?

Do you have to get caught up before you can be any of those things?

What if it were as easy as replying to the next email, putting in the next load of laundry, and accepting that the goal is NOT to get caught up?

The goal is to live. And living is about more than emails and laundry.

My clients and I don’t believe in getting caught up. We find ways to make daily responsibilities manageable and we focus on the things that make our lives enjoyable.

If you want help making daily responsibilities (like email, laundry, meal-planning and more) more manageable, that's exactly what a 90-minute Planning Intensive is for.

You bring 2-3 "problem" areas in work or life and together we map out a new structure, schedule, or routine to make things easier. Because when the everyday tasks in life are on auto-pilot, you have the space, energy, and capacity to enjoy everything else.

Learn more and book your session here.

Cheers to accepting that getting caught up is not the goal,