Back to work on the early shift this week and the alarm came as a most unwelcome shock to the system. I don't know why we continue to start at 6:30am during the current climate when no one we support is working or in the office at that time. Still, it gave me the time to process the hundreds of unread emails from last week and delete the vast majority that are not needed or irrelevant. The rest were filed away as I try to start each week with inbox zero.
My personal inbox, however, has been slowly gathering mails – it currently contains 11 newsletters that I need/want to either read properly and/or respond to. I need to set aside some time for this and give them the attention they deserve.
You might say that I don't need to do any of this, that neither reading nor replying to some newsletters will make any real difference, that this is a want. Maybe so, but I equate this want with a personal need, a need to continually educate and challenge myself, a need to let those who send their thoughts know that they are welcome and appreciated.
So gradually, mail by mail, I will devote to them the time they require, read them properly and offer a reply where appropriate – even if it's just to provide a quick note of thanks. My not doing so may not, individually, make much of a difference but if we all decline to do so how many voices will be silenced? How many just won't bother? The world would be a poorer place.
