“No more emails”

I uncovered something inside of Google Mail today. Something I never knew existed even though I’ve been using Google Mail for business for at least the last 6 years. As a business and organizational practice I use ‘Unread Items’ in my inbox as a sort of to-do list. If I have an unread email item starring at me, in dark bold lettering, it’s like a slap in my face telling me I have to get that task done. I’ve seriously had unread emails in my inbox for 6 years. Now, the emails do rotate and this is not a sign that I’m not able to get my work done. It’s just that there’s always a string of work going on and items that need to be addressed.

One of my goals this week was to get through all of those messages in the inbox. Today I achieved that goal and discovered a cool message that maid me smile. It says “Woohoo! You’ve read all the messages in your inbox.”

Wow. It really feels like Google Mail is celebrating right along with me. All mail is read. Friday at 2:30 all tasks are complete. This is such a rare occurrence that it’s like a blue moon. I’m going to tell my team to stop and go home. Enjoy the weekend because Google says it’s OK.

What a great way to end the week because that message will no doubt go away real soon.