Does Your Email Inbox Have Good Feng Shui?

September 21, 2011

How’s the Chi energy flowing in your email inbox?

I realized recently that mine had gotten out of control: filled with emails I didn’t need, unsorted, and dating back years.

Pile-of-paper

It occurred to me that I didn’t even know what I had, a classic example of Feng Shui Clutter Type #3: things that are untidy or disorganized.

My inbox had bad Feng Shui!

As I examined this situation more closely I realized its consequences: overlooked business opportunities, missed deadlines (or very close calls!), and dropped balls of all kinds.

Email is like Water: it never stops flowing. The idea is to let it flow while giving it firm boundaries, not damming it up or allowing it to become stagnant.

I’ve been working on my inbox for a couple of months now and the Chi is flowing again. If yours has gotten out of control, here are a few Feng Shui-based principles that will help you correct its course.

  1. Keep Chi energy moving by dealing with every email you receive each day by the end of that day, either by answering it, deleting it, or placing it into a category folder.

  2. Create structure by setting up category folders for emails you need to keep: the folders you need will become apparent as you deal with your mail. Mine include things like Client Info, Public Speaking, Receipts & Invoices… you get the idea.

  3. Reduce the stagnant energy of your backlog of emails. My inbox had over 2,000 unsorted emails in it before I started; it’s now at 400 and falling, as I continue to delete unnecessary items and sort the rest into categories.



Your email inbox is one of the necessities of modern life, and its condition counts just as much as any part of your environment.

What are your favorite tips for keeping it under control?

(photo courtesy of thedailygreen.com)

Filed Under: Feng Shui & Clutter|6 comments
keywords:
  • Tessa

    I’ve always just deleted, or filed to a folder, as I go along each day. Maybe once a month or so I review the ones left sitting in the box, to either file or delete. For all of the other clutter challenges in life, this one is so *easy* to take care of! I’m always a bit surprised that anyone has email clutter. . . but it seems everyone does. – For my part, I have an overwhelming file of things I’m definitely going to read someday. :)

    • Ann

      Thanks Tessa — for some reason I hear a LOT about email clutter… although things are easier now that the search function works so well for so many email setups. You’re right, it’s easy, but it take diligence ;) Thanks again.

  • Ada Gonzalez

    What a great advice and a reminder. I too just recently noiced that ,my emails have taken over, even flooded to my written to-do-list .. where I write down a note to address an email later on. But now, I am TACKLING it as it comes, bec leaving it for later sometimes turned into 2 months. I feel sooo relief (weight lifted) now that I am addressing my emails differently. :)

    • Ann

      Thanks for this comment Ada. It’s so easy — in my email inbox, anyway — for important things to “slip below the line” causing me to miss out on important things I REALLY didn’t want to forget! My new system is keeping me on track much better now, just like you :)

  • Jo Starr

    How interesting – about a week ago, before I found this article, I got fed up with over 4000 messages staring at me whenever I logged in!  I started going through it all, filing the messages into folders and unsubscribing from newsletters I don’t read for one reason or another. I’m down to about 1000 messages in my inbox, and sorting things out has allowed me to find useful info when I need it – for instance, all my feng shui newsletters and tips go into the Feng Shui folder, so when I need help I can just go there.  I’m trying to now stay on top of it all each day. As I sorted through it, I also realized that I get very little REAL email from friends, etc.  So I created a whole new email address that will be dedicated to that!  Thanks so much for all the wonderful, useful information!

    • AnnFengShui

      You are most welcome! So glad you are getting so much value from the blog. And yes, my life has also changed, much for the better ;) , since I started keeping better tabs on my inbox.