The Inbox is so self important.
The landing space for all those emails that must be processed, noticed and responded to.
There is another folder that hides away, not seeking attention but can be so useful.
DRAFTS
I'm changing organisations soon and my new Drafts folder is empty!
What is it for?
How can I use it?
Why would I need to keep a message?
Will it get out of control like an un-cared for garden?
1. Use it for the messages you will never send. The vents, the rants, the abuse that doesn't need ears.
2. Use if for the ideas log. When a new project comes along and your mind is buzzin' with ideas on how to respond.
3. Use it for dreams. The text is better on the page than in your head if it is ever going to have life.
TOP TIP
Never put the addressee in the To: box. Just don't. Because one day, you'll accidentally send the rant....and you can't get it back (nasty Outbox, nasty).
4. Use it to compose your best response. Give it time to percolate like a good brew.
5. Use it to get closure. A certain satisfaction in deleting that correspondence allows a clearing space for more.
6. Use it for testing. Try a new version, be sarcastic, have a little in-joke, twist it a new way, test.
Keep it short. You don't want the wilding of the garden here. If you see more than 10 drafts, it's time to do some weeding.There is no filing, no sub-folders, no daily maintenance.
Empty it before you go. Capture all the goodness, process all the ideas, remove all the dross....leave it empty before you close the lid on the last day. We will die with stuff in our inbox, it just keeps coming. In that shadowy time between me leaving my current job and IT finally archiving my corner of the digital space, the inbox will keep on flowing with detritus nobody needs. But I can leave happy that my Drafts folder is empty, clean and swept free of dust.
A 10 minute 'headlong' writing with ref Ted Hughes: https://daily.ds106.us/tdc3815/
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