Free Range Learning

 Hat-tip to BoingBoing for this article on how to reduce your online stress: delete your emails.

I used to have loads of folders, date-based folders, even … but for me all that amounted to was this elaborate procrastination system. I realized that if something can't be dealt with immediately, it needs to stay right in front of you. So it's either in my inbox or it's deleted. And if it sits in my inbox, then it has to be turned into action.

I have been trying over the past few months to keep my inbox empty as well. It's a huge relief to login to my account and see an empty inbox. This is made even easier since we moved to Google mail. Archiving emails that you may need in the future gets them out of your inbox (and your mind), while still allowing you to access them if needed.

Give it a try this Advent season. Don't let hundreds (thousands?) of emails get in the way of your preparation and contemplation.