I am pretty militant about keeping my email inbox in shape.  I have folders for each client, piece of content, and project.  And my simple system is that I don’t move something out of my inbox (and into a folder) until it’s been “handled.”  Now, handling it might mean responding.  Or it might mean properly delegating it so that I know it’s been “handled” by someone else.

So when my inbox gets overly full with things I know I need to do, it can be a bit overwhelming to me.

This usually happens when I have a lot of requests that I want to do myself…but I have put them off.  Then the emails sit in my inbox, silently judging me.  And when enough of them are there, they start to rent space in my head and stress me out.

This morning was one of those times.

I woke up to a list of emails and tasks that I needed to do…but was not excited about.  I want to delay.  And when I want to delay, I look for other things to do to procrastinate.  And then the list in my inbox gets longer.

There is only one thing to do.

Lean in…and do the next right thing.

When I am facing a list of things that I need to accomplish that seem overwhelming, my default motivation is to run away.  I look for ways to avoid it.  But if I can lean into the discomfort, I just need to select one of the items…and do that.  Just pick the next right thing…and finish it.

Then repeat.

As is often the case, it sounds simple.  And it is.  But it’s not easy.  It’s easy to procrastinate by watching Youtube videos.  It’s hard to lean into the thing you have been avoiding.  But it’s important to note that you are not tasked with cleaning out the inbox or doing all of the tasks.  Your job, at this moment, is to do the next right thing.

Then do that again.

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