What are the little things you need to take care of? Do you have an inbox with hundreds of unread emails? Is your house cluttered?
Sometimes dealing with little things can make you feel more in control. To get your life together, Sarah Knight recommends starting small with tasks like emptying your email inbox and keeping the house clean.
Learn how to focus on the little things before tackling the big projects.
Get on Top of Your Inbox
Focusing on the little things doesn’t seem like fun, but the results are worth it. According to Knight, there’s no reason to have 12,539 unread messages in your inbox. If your inbox is overwhelming, you can do something about it.
The first step is to set a goal. Knight recommends getting your inbox to zero (yes, it’s possible).
The next step is to make a plan and break your goal down into smaller steps. To get your inbox to zero, you’ll need to delete, file, or reply to all your messages. The level of chaos in your inbox will determine how long this task will take you. Knight recommends trying to complete this task all at once to minimize the risk of getting even more emails as you try to clear out the ones you have.
Now, you need to prioritize by giving time and energy to the task. Schedule your inbox cleanout into your day.
Finally, implement the plan. Ruthlessly delete, file, or reply until you reach your goal.
After this initial purge, Knight offers suggestions for maintaining a manageable inbox. First, she suggests you limit the number of emails you send. If you send fewer emails, you’ll receive fewer emails. One way to do this is to condense multiple emails into one: You can put questions or points of discussion in a draft email over the course of a week, then edit it for sending. Finally, she recommends being more thoughtful about the emails you do send. Keep them short and to the point. Prioritize important information, cut the fluff, and put a time frame on any requests you make.
Get Your House in Order
Another small thing you can tackle that will have a big impact on your life is getting your shit together at home. Knight says many of us feel overwhelmed by keeping our house clean or staying on top of home improvement projects. She explains how to implement her four-step process into managing your home.
First, what’s your goal? Is it to have a pristine kitchen? Minimal clutter? As you create your goal, think about the reason behind it. Sometimes we think our home should look a certain way, but we actually don’t care. If that’s the case, let this goal go. But if your goal is important to you, then make a plan, prioritize, and implement the plan.
If cleaning your whole home at once is overwhelming, break it down into smaller tasks—maybe you do a room a day or one type of task at a time (tidying, wiping surfaces, vacuuming, and so on) Knight recommends setting a timer for 20 minutes once a day or every couple of days and doing whatever needs to be done for those 20 minutes. She explains that a little bit every day has a big impact.
When it comes to home management, Knight encourages delegation when possible. She acknowledges that not everyone has the privilege to hire someone to fix that broken screen door or clean their house once a month, but she encourages people to delegate when they can. For example, it’s reasonable to expect that kids or roommates contribute to the work of keeping your home clean and organized.
