In a world where everything is readily available at the click of a button and news coming at you from every direction, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is rampant. On a daily basis, you may receive 100 texts you acknowledge but forget to respond to. You may receive 100 Social Media mentions for that great thing you didn’t realize was being recorded and has now gone viral. You may also receive 100 emails to your inbox containing a mix of coupons, hot singles in your area, or a letter from grandma who finally discovered how to send one of those darn electronic messages. Now you’ve got a situation on your hands. Your email inbox is stuffed to the virtual gills. Fear sets in. Fear of a Full Inbox.
You’ve Got: Fear of a Full Inbox!
You know when you unlock your phone and scroll through 5 pages of Apps because you’re bored and swiping right is effectively a reflex? Along your journey, you might not see a single notification from any Apps. No new Instagram updates no one asked for. No posts from your favourite blog on Facebook because someone doesn’t know how to use Social Media properly. Nothing. Only the insane would keep unread notifications. But what happens when an inbox starts to fill with messages? You get a notification for 5 new messages, glance at the subject line, and move on. This snowball effect doesn’t rely on winter weather to happen. 1 email turns to 10, 10 to 20. Suddenly you’ve become overwhelmed with 50,000 new emails in your inbox. You cannot possibly go through each one. It’s time to assume a new identity and start over.
Having a Fear of a Full Inbox does not necessarily mean you currently have way too much unread mail and not enough time in the day in file it properly. It may also be knowing there is an impending amount of mail heading your way. Let’s say you just planned the hottest party this side of the 2000’s has ever seen. The kind of party that puts Aaron’s to shame. The kind of party Max Keeble doesn’t even know what to do with. If you understood either reference, this party may be too cool for you. The point is: a massive event was planned and you sent out invites to everyone encouraging them to RSVP by email and include a list of their allergy restrictions, their plus-ones, and their current occupations to be used as conversation points. A lot of emails are headed your way.
Filing Away Your Fear of a Full Inbox
When it comes to overcoming your Fear of a Full Inbox, there is only one clear and obvious solution. You need to spend each waking minute refreshing your inbox and immediately filing away whatever comes in. Archiving can be your best friend. Applying filters to automatically whisk away your mail is also your best friend. It’s okay to have more than one best friend. Especially if those best friends are part of your email inbox. It doesn’t sound like you get out much anyway. Receiving emails can also be a lot of fun! Discounts on your favourite soaps, new VHS bundles every week, or perhaps that favourite blog of yours has an eBook available on Amazon that hasn’t been promoted for a while. You should check that out, by the way. I’ll send you an email about it later.