inbox zero and being an adult
pain
When I was a kid, I used to watch my mom work a lot after school. One of the things that stood out to me as a dumb child was the fact that she had thousands of unread emails. Of course, I wanted to be a mature adult too - when I opened my first email, it was a bit sad to see no notifications.
my first received email, kind of nostalgic in a way
Of course, that meant I was signing up for random things to get numbers - turning on notification emails, news updates from MSN, that kind of thing. As I eventually actually started using email for real purposes, the noise only increased. Eventually I just naturally had a thousand unreads, most of them not really worth reading.
But there really was no reason to have that many emails. It's not like anyone was looking at my unread emails bubble on my iPhone, and it's not like the amount of emails you got even meant anything. I just started it because it felt 'adult'.
I remember when I was interviewing for a volunteering position at the local YMCA I stated I was very 'mature' (i was 13 and the role was for summer camp for 2 weeks). Kids always want to seem more mature, an inherent need for recognition.
not the original, but one of the all time greats
But I've recently started anew with a new email, a new domain, a new everything. I've militantly unsubscribed to keep that email clean, and slowly and moving over. It's quiet, and I like it that much more. There really was nothing behind having that many emails, just like there was no reason to live older than my actual age.
I've found these days I'm more relaxed and for lack of a better term, sillier than my teenage self. Of course, work and life may call for seriousness, but there's plenty of opportunity to live and let live.
But nowadays, it seems different. Sometimes in cafes I overhear students talking about founding, making a billion dollars, their business pitches and how to get investors; and I wonder how much they're missing out on as well. When I was a kid it was just unread emails, but now its their entire careers that are being pushed up the schedule.