Controlling your own time and attention

Most people wrote and received no more than a handful of letters a month and seldom felt compelled to reply immediately. Today I receive dozens of emails each day, all from people who expect a prompt reply. We thought we were saving time; instead we revved up the treadmill of life to ten times its former speed and made our days more anxious and agitated.

A helpful reminder that we can choose to set expectations appropriately. I already try to batch process emails, and this was a helpful reminder that we have many ways we can communicate with family, friends and clients and we are in control of our time and attention. I have adjusted my batching times for Sanebox and cleared my inbox back to zero. I plan to keep clearing to neutral each day.