THE WEEKLY PAGE 📝 No. 199

Making peace with your inbox + what to read, watch, listen to and enjoy...

Last year I worked with a client named Jen. Jen was a product manager at a healthcare company and she was teetering on the edge of burnout.

Email was a huge source of stress. She estimated she was spending at least 2-3 hours per day dealing with emails and she still felt like she was failing to stay on top of it.

I asked her a few basic questions about how she managed her inbox. Then she shared her screen and walked me through the various ways she was utilizing filters and folders to manage things.

When I asked how many emails she received each day, she let out a long sigh and guessed a daily average of 80, with a few days a week reaching 100 or more.

While that might sound like a lot, Jen’s email volume was pretty common for a US knowledge worker. Studies show that the average person receives around 120 business-related emails each day, and sends around 40.

The majority of the current workforce has been using email since elementary school, if not earlier. We know all the inbox tips, tricks, filters and tools.

So the issue is usually not a lack of organizational skills, it’s the volume of emails we receive on a daily basis.

Expecting the average person to spend 25% or more of their work day on email is not just incredibly unreasonable, it’s also incredibly inefficient.

Tasks and processes that were previously best handled through email exchange, can now be optimized or replaced with digital systems and automations — freeing up more time for creative, collaborative, and focused work.

So I introduced Jen to a few methods that could help reduce email exchanges among her team, and a month later she took those suggestions to her manager, who eventually implemented them for the entire company.

Want those methods? Of course you do. In this week’s article I shared my 5 most impactful methods for reducing email overwhelm. There’s also a digital eBook that paying subscribers can download if you’d like to share the information with your favorite co-worker. Check it out here.

Remember: sometimes it’s not you. It’s the system. *wink*

TGIF,

---

🧡 Help a Family Evacuate from Gaza

My friend Katelynd is helping raise money for her college friend, Ahmed, a Palestinian filmmaker living in New York, whose family is currently trying to survive the war in Gaza.

Ahmed’s family home. Now destroyed by bombing in Gaza.

Nineteen of Ahmed’s family members (his parents, two brothers + spouses, two sisters + spouses, and their nine children) have evacuated to the south of Gaza and are currently seeking shelter in a school but they are not safe.

To evacuate them, Ahmed needs $70,000 to pay for the Rafah border fees for his nineteen family members. The additional $3,000 will help cover some initial costs once his family arrives in Egypt. You can read about Rafah border fees and why they are one of the only ways Palestinians are currently able to reach safety via The Guardian.

I hope that by now you know me and my content well enough to know that I share fundraising efforts very selectively, and that I always verify and confirm the efforts I share.

If you are able to help Ahmed’s family reach safety, you can join me in donating through the GoFundMe Ahmed has set up.

---

📚 READ: One of my favorite researchers and authors,

Sarah Kendzior

, recently joined Substack and writes one of the newsletters I’m honored to pay for. As an expert in authoritarianism, Sarah’s perspective on current events is invaluable and wrapped up with beautiful, heartfelt writing. My favorite piece so far has been Frost Flowers, but this week’s comparison of Palestine and Oklahoma gave me much to think about.

📺 WATCH: Did you know that Lego is based in Denmark? The tiny colorful bricks are a staple in this neck of the woods, even more so since my partner started a job there last week! We are now those adults who play with Legos (apparently called AFOLs - Adult Fans of Lego) followed by an episode of Lego Masters — a reality TV show hosted by Will Arnett where contestants competitively build with Legos. Watch a trailer here.

🎧 LISTEN: If you’re looking for a 4-part podcast series that chronicles a Karen situation that will eventually lead you through implicit bias, racism, MLMs, influencer culture, Qanon and restorative justice — this one is for you. Check out People Vs. Karen by Imperfect Paradise right here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

🧡 ENJOY: Although this week felt significantly brighter as blue skies blessed us most days, we’re still in the midst of the dark Nordic winter. Root vegetables like sweet potatoes, beets, and carrots can help ease seasonal depression, so I’ve got this Warming Winter Grain Bowl by Chef Bai on my list for next week, when the clouds have scheduled their return.