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Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.
Good morning.
This is Laura.
Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is about how to make your inbox more fun.
If you send messages to people you like, there is a very good chance that they will respond.
All of a sudden, your inbox is a place you might actually enjoy, rather than just a chore.
A great many people complain about email, both the time spent managing it and the draining nature of so much of it.
But here is an experiment.
Look at your sent messages from the past few days.
How many are there that you initiated?
If you're like a lot of us, the answer is probably not that many.
You are generally responding to stuff that is coming in.
Even the stuff you are initiating is probably pretty functional, like hey, I'm going to need you to cover the sales meeting on Tuesday because I have a dentist appointment.
No wonder email feels like a chore.
But here's an idea.
If you start reaching out to people you like, admire or want to be back in touch with, a great many of these people will respond.
Their messages will make your inbox more fun.
I was thinking of this recently when I was reaching out to some author friends about my upcoming book Big Time.
I was asking people if I could send advanced copies to them.
A lot of people wrote back with very nice messages.
How cool to see so many friends in my inbox.
I feel this way every Friday when I email my accountability partner and she responds.
I know I have a cool message from someone I like waiting for me to read, with all the details about her week.
It's like a little treat.
Now, to be sure, it could feel a little strange to reach out to someone with no reason, but I am sure you can come up with a reason if you want to.
You saw something that made you think of the person.
You realized that X happened a year ago, and it made you think of them.
Something the person said came up in conversation lately.
A mutual friend talked to you.
I think you get the idea.
This really doesn't have to be hard.
Now, not everyone responds, but a lot of people do.
Some email exchanges will lead to longer conversations or maybe even schemes to get together.
Others will just lead to something basic like, how nice to see your name in my inbox.
Yes, that was fun a year ago.
Hope you are doing well.
And I mean, maybe that's not so much more than nothing, but it is still better than the vast majority of email most of us receive.
And my guess is the person will keep thinking about you.
Something will come of it eventually.
When you put things out into the universe, the universe does respond.
Email is often terrible because it is just whatever is coming in.
But you can put positive things out there.
And likely, positive things will come back.
That will make your inbox all warm and fuzzy.
Or at least, not so tedious.
And that is also a good thing.
In the meantime, this is Laura.
Thanks for listening.
And here's to making the most of our time.
Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at laura at lauravandercam.com.
This is an iHeart Podcast.
Guaranteed human.
