I came up with an analogy the other day. I compared my life to my inbox.

When my inbox gets super full, I tend to get overwhelmed. It’s not a bad thing perse, because lots of work usually means lots of great things are happening. But regardless, the goal is to reach inbox zero — to work through every email and decide what needs to be responded to, archived, deleted, figured out right away, able to be put on hold, or known that you need someone else’s input before you can respond.

Life, in many ways, is one freakin’ overloaded email inbox. So many things are constantly happening, and every day dozens of new things can pop in. And hey! You can even add labels. There’s family, friends, relationships, health, personal, career, finances, life plans, and more a happenin in your head, in your day-to day, in your life.

But unfortunately, I don’t think people (people = probably me) tend to their life inbox like they do their email inbox. We don’t sit down and work through every “email” and figure out what needs to be done. (Respond? Trash it? Know you need someone’s help to answer?) Instead, things are pushed to the side with the assumption that leaving it there will solve a problem, resolve an issue, or miraculously be answered on its own.

My life inbox has had “get a real bed” in it since August 2012. There’s also “schedule doctors appointments,” “clean the tub,” and “get a sports massage.” There’s a whole lot more, too, and I’m learning the only way to de-clutter what’s going on in your life is to tackle it head on.

Open up the email. Read it. And do something about it.