How many inboxes do you have?

Every inbox in our lives represents a spot where we need to process information. They are all their own hubs where people can leave us messages or communications to review and respond to.

And with each passing year, more and more inboxes pop up in our lives.

Our postal mailboxes are the original “inbox” that we traditionally think of. For a long time, if somebody was going to write us a letter, this is where it would go.

Then along came the internet revolution. Now, many of us have at least two email inboxes. Both a work and personal email inbox. And in some cases, we have multiple personal emails.

On our phones we have both text messages and voicemails. These are the inboxes that are built in functionalities of a mobile phone.

With social media, we have a whole other layer of inboxes and notifications. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc.. All of these individual platforms are additional inboxes living in your web browser, or as apps on your smartphone.

Workplace messaging platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams have recently surged in popularity. As if emails were not distracting enough at work, now we can get a constant drip of distractions!

And last but not least, you probably have some physical inboxes in your life. If you are on the organized side of things, you may have an actual inbox “box” to process. Or if you are more like me, you have a fancy junk drawer in your kitchen.

Your Personal Inbox Count

When you add up all of the inboxes in your life, what number do you get?

I personally counted 10 different “inboxes” for myself. That means I have 10 different areas that things can pile up that I need to process:

• Postal Mailbox
• Voicemail
• Text Message
• Email (2)
• Social Media (3)
• Slack
• Junk Drawer

A simple living goal would be to reduce the amount of inboxes in your daily life.

Consider what inboxes you can remove or combine with others. Or think of ways you can streamline how effectively you can process information that lands in your inboxes.

Simplify your life so that you have less inboxes to check, less distractions throughout the day, and improved focus on work that matters.