I don’t hate clearing out my inbox, but I don’t love it either. How about you? Do you let it pile up until you have dozens or hundreds of messages you haven’t looked at yet? Or are you the conscientious type who finishes going through your inbox and taking care of everything before you go to bed? Either way, inboxes can leave you feeling guilty or angry or overburdened.
I enjoy receiving notices from fellow bloggers about a new post. Aside from that, too many random messages start out sounding like something you might want to read. And then, a few lines down, you realize it was just a come-on, and you’ve wasted time figuring that out.
Then there are the messages that maybe you ought to read or at least skim even though they’re boring. Even less fun are the requests for money and the outright scams. In short, clearing out your inbox is not the most pleasant task of the day.
Then, suddenly in January, I started getting something new that I really like. It’s called “On This Day.” Last year I signed up for Microsoft365 which includes OneDrive, and this seems to be one of the perks. They send me photos that were added to my own photo file “on this day” but on another year. Usually, I receive about seven or eight photos each day. Looking at them takes only a few seconds, but it’s always fun.
It’s been fun to see how different the weather has been “on this day” during other years. This year we had only a couple of dustings of snow. I’ve been surprised to see all the snow pictures from other years.
But then, I wondered, why if we had more snow in past years, did the flowers bloom earlier then? We had a lot of sun this January. Shouldn’t our daffodils have bloomed earlier? Maybe, I decided, it’s the lack of our usual amount of rain.
Besides thoughts about snow and flowers, the “on this day” photos have occasioned thoughts about the passage of time.
My grandson is a high school junior now.
Do you clear out your inbox every day? Do you get “On This Day?” Do you look at your old photos on a regular basis?
Yes, I’ve been getting that for a couple years now I always enjoy it.
It’s so much fun looking at photos that mark the passage of time ~ like your grandson’s photo in 2011! You both look so happy!
I keep on top of my in-box, most days.
That trip to Baltimore was to visit the aquarium, and we did have a great time. Today he’s with his parents exploring college on the West Coast. For everything there’s a season–something new to see and do, something old to cherish.
I keep Facebook around mostly for the memories of funny things my kid said or did. The rest of my feed is adds, I think.
The Facebook memories are also fun. We’re so used to having all these photos. It makes me think of how different it used to be. The photos of my kids when they were young are on the shelf yellowing in heavy albums.
I clear out every day. Some are easy deletes and some need to be read but it can get overwhelming if I let it go.
I agree, Kate. I also clear out every day.
Nicki, I try to clear out my inbox, because of the deluge of emails I receive. I appreciate the ones announcing blog posts. And I also have On This Day occasionally from OneDrive. It is fun to look at old photos.
I actually feel obligated to clear out my inbox each day before bed. It’s not so easy for everyone, though. My daughters all have very demanding jobs. I sometimes hear them complaining about how full their inboxes are.
I think “On This Day” was a brilliant idea. We could always look at our own photos anytime we wanted, but we don’t. Which photos would we choose, and how long would we spend looking? Too long, I suspect. Besides we have work to do.