Unread Emails and Opened Tabs

3,552. 

A red bubble taunts me from the Gmail app.

Yes, that's how many unread emails I currently have in my account. I consider myself a highly organized individual. I am a purger, a loather of clutter, a minimalist-wannabe but probably-never-gonnabe. Definitely not when it comes to emails, apparently. 

Or browser windows. I use multiple monitors while working and many tabs are opened throughout the day. I’ve never considered how startling it may be to a normal browser user to see 50-plus tabs open at once until I needed to cast my screen to a giant monitor during a meeting. What’s more unsettling than seeing a gazillion tabs and unread email notifications? Seeing them in large format, that’s what.

As scary as it may be, these digital forms of information are not unlike the inner workings of my brain. Oh, the variety of opened tabs and pending thoughts; the drawers of files and never-ending lists; the idea generating and around-the-clock processing. It takes MacGyver skills to navigate that place. Much like my poor Gmail account, my thinker often feels the capacity limit quickly approaching. 

“97% of storage used.”

Is this warning label also plastered to my forehead? Perhaps not, but it can certainly manifest in my words and actions if I’m not careful. 

I can see the T-shirt now: “I’m sorry for what I said when my brain ran out of storage.”

Well, Google provides two choices; we can either “purchase more storage” or “clean up space.”

Whether we like it or not, we can’t exactly update the divinely designed OS (operating system) we were given, but there are many tools available to help us clean up. Tools such as lists, reminders, calendars, brain dumps before bed, time in the great outdoors, and prayer. Lots and lots of prayer. Because there’s nothing more cleansing and freeing than simply letting go and handing over that clutter and junk that is taking up valuable real estate.

So, while I have plenty more to say about this topic, I’ll have to look for that opened tab with my notes. Adding it to my “to-do” list now.

In the meantime, I’ll be over here deleting emails. Right after I go for a hike.

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