My Inbox Zero

Getting my email organized was a lot of work, especially since I have been neglecting my inbox for years and it already has a thousands of emails! AHHHH!!!!

For me the idea of an empty inbox is piece of mind. A heard about inbox zero while working through Set Up Shop by Jess of Create and Thrive. It has cleared up mental space for me, I feel like I can find the most recent and relevant emails. Deal with the stuff that needs to be dealt with, have a place to stash it and move on.

Here is what I did.

I create some categories that work for me. Then I broke them down. I am pretty detail oriented, so just achieving messages I was done with was not enough. My plan is to officially archive the messages at the end of the year so that I can stay organized throughout and then move on from there.

My System Looks Like This:

Inbox

Needs Response - Cleared out and caught up on ever week

New Orders - To be put into order book daily

Needs Action - Cleared out and caught up on ever week

Defer - Check once a week and wade through:)

Interesting & Inspiration

Six Bits Story Books

Fibre Works Archives
sub folders include:

• Order 
• Supply Order
• Customer Inquiry 
• Wholesale Information
• Projects
• Festivals
• Exhibitions
• E Books
• Patterns
• Guilds
• Taxes
• Receipts 2016
• January
• February
• March

Personal Archives
sub folders include:

• Photo Transfer
• Family
• Funny
• House
• Cat Sitting

These categories work for my life, your categories can and likely will be unique, just like you:)

When an email lands in my inbox I sort it into the correct folder if I can't deal with it right away. For me this allows me the space to have my email open for reference as I work through tasks to be completed, but removes the distraction of worrying how I will remember to get back to that email.

Now to work through all the organized Needs Response and Needs Action emails!

Don't Count Your Pennies, even if you have to keep track of them.

I can't say for sure that this is sound advice, however, it is advice that works for me. 

It is advice I try and give myself when I get that sick feeling in my stomach as if I have lost out in someway by tipping someone more then I meant to or when I have committed to buying something that is a few more dollars then expected. I don't know where this reaction comes from, but when it happens I remind myself not to count my pennies.

I am not trying to say I should not know where my money is going. In fact keeping track of money and what is being done with it is major component in the recipe for success in a business and financially healthy home. More on this another time.

What I mean by not counting your pennies is: be generous, be aware, but give where you can, don't focus on the cost alone, focus on value.

How is this advice useful to me in a business sense? I am growing a business for myself and my family because I love fibre and I want to share that love. Of course the bottom line matters, but it is not all that matters. To me, Don't count your pennies is a reminder that the bottom line is not the major driving force behind my business decisions. Ethics, fair transactions, sustainability, community. These are the major driving factors, pennies play a role, but they are not the first consideration. 

While I will be keeping track of my pennies, I will not be counting them.