Report From an Unspruced Up Inbox

So, how did you do?

In the thirteen days since I posted Part 1 of this two-part series, how did you do with my handy, dandy Sprucing Up the Inbox plan? You want to know how I did?

Not a terribly impressive showing, I’m afraid.

I moved a dozen or so unopened emails into my To Be Unsubscribed folder and wrote one very kind, thank-you-for-your-service goodbye note and got a very kind I-understand-and-wish-you-the-best reply.

That’s it.

In retrospect, a seven-step project could probably find a better place on the calendar than eight days before Thanksgiving.

I mean, did I really think you would be sitting around hoping for a lovely new complex thing to add to your to do list?

I still like the idea. I just think it might be an October sort of thing. Fitting somewhere in that space after the back-to-school rush dies down and before the holiday rush ramps up.

For now, I’m going to make a soft goal of reducing my incoming email by five subscriptions before January 1st. That seems doable, right?

And maybe, to make up for my untimeliness, I’ll whip up a little fiction for you to enjoy by the fire.

Maybe something about a clever woman who, feeling bored the week before Christmas (since she’s already delivered home-baked frosted cookies and mini-loaves to her neighbors, hosted a caroling party for fifty of her closest friends, and directed the Christmas musical she wrote for her church), fills those last slow days before Christmas by organizing her recipe cards and photo albums.

Probably not exactly that, though. Even my imagination can only go so far!