Bob didn’t notice his inbox at first.
He opened his laptop every morning, coffee in hand, telling himself today would be different. Today he’d clear things. Get organised. Feel on top of it.
Then he saw the number.
3742 unread emails.
His stomach tightened. Not panic. Not fear. Just that familiar background pressure. The kind you live with so long you stop questioning it.
He closed the inbox without opening a single message.
Mark told himself he was busy. He told himself successful people had messy inboxes. He told himself none of it really mattered.
However his body disagreed.
He was always rushing. Always slightly late. Always feeling like something important was about to surface that he hadn’t prepared for.
He heard his mentors voice in his head saying “How you do anything is how you do everything!” but ignored it!
At work, projects dragged on far longer than needed. Decisions were delayed. Follow-ups slipped. He kept notes everywhere and trusted none of them. At home, paperwork piled up. Finances were “fine” however never clear. Conversations stayed vague. Commitments stayed loose.
Nothing ever felt finished.
One afternoon, a client asked a simple question.
“Can you send that over again?”
Bob couldn’t remember if he’d already sent it, drafted it, saved it, or meant to do it later.
That moment stung more than it should have.
That night, he opened his inbox properly. Not to tidy it. To understand it.
Every unread email represented a moment he’d avoided deciding.
Every notification was a small promise left open.
Every delay trained his brain to tolerate chaos.
He realised the inbox wasn’t the issue. It was the pattern.
Avoid first. Delay next. Rush later. Repeat.
Bob changed one rule.
Emails were no longer storage. They were decision points.
Read. Decide. Act. Delete. File. Schedule.
Nothing stayed open without a reason.
The first week felt uncomfortable. His brain wanted to escape. The second week felt lighter. The third week something strange happened.
He started finishing things.
Not everything. Just more than before.
The noise dropped. The pressure eased. His thinking slowed in a good way. Conversations became clearer. Money felt calmer. Work moved faster without more effort.
The inbox number dropped.
So did the mental weight.
Bob didn’t become organised.
He became decisive.
And that changed far more than his emails.
If this story feels familiar, don’t admire it.
Change one rule today.
Don’t be like Bob!