I’m already a post behind in my aggressive schedule and I have a couple of other ideas on posts I want to put up.  I could make all sorts of excuses as to why I’m behind but the big one is that I got the call on Monday for a second interview for the new job to which I’ve applied.  The interview is tomorrow at 12:30 and I’ve been preparing my heart out.  But - as with all such things - that which is supposed to happen will be and the reasons why may never be understood.

So, on with our post. This is a post about in baskets.  I could start by saying I like baskets.  I used to be a Longaberger consultant so I have many, many baskets (nice ones, with pretty fabric liners and plastic protectors to keep them safe from harm). However, for some reason, the inbasket concept has never worked for me.  I think it’s because in my current job there is too much to do in order to keep it all in one basket (the current stack of paperwork that needs my attention is about two feet high - it takes a big basket to contain that).  Now - you might say - you just need to buckle down and get to work if your paperwork stack is that high.  But, in my defense, I will tell you one of my primary roles is working with a construction project and it only takes one change order (complete with its six official copies and all attendant documentation to support that change order) to make up six to eight inches of that stack in my inbox.  So - get four change orders on the same day (which is what happened yesterday) and you’ve got two feet of paperwork.  And - that construction project is only 1/2 of 1/3 of my job.  

So - one problem with in baskets is that my job requires asking a lot of questions about things before they get signed.  So - it doesn’t necessarily help to have my staff members all put their signature folders into my mailbox or even to bring them to an inbox in my office as normally there are verbal conversations which need to occur with the bulk of the documents.  I have three different teams of people that work for me - each requires signatures on/reactions to a completely different variety of items (facilities issues that require fast turn around and quick decisions, finance issues which require a keen eye and thinking like an auditor, and IT issues that require asking what if questions - sometimes fast and sometimes needing to slow down the speed of the bus to let the riders catch up). 

But that’s not my biggest problem.  My biggest problem with inboxes is I just simply have too many of them.  The problem above with my work inboxes just underscores the issue, but it gets worse when you put it all together with my personal life.  It seems like everywhere you go now someone wants to give you more and more to do.  So - I thought it might be helpful to list what I consider my inboxes and see if you really do have just one.  I’ve sorted these by work and personal. It’s important to note that because I work for a public institution that receives taxpayer dollars as a part of its funding, I’m militant about keeping my personal life and my work life separate (personal calls only get made on a personal cell phone, etc.) So, here goes my list of inboxes…

Work

1. Exchange Email Account
2. Central Mailbox
3. Departmental signature folder (x3)
4. Phone w/voice mail
5. Cell phone w/voice mail
6. Help desk ticketing system for both our IT office and facilities office (I normally don’t have to respond to tickets, but if a staff member is out for the day because we’re not deeply staffed they become mine to worry about)
7. The in basket I do keep on my desk that some people do use
8. Trillian (for instant messaging with my boss and my staff)/Google Talk

Work isn’t such a bad list when you look at it, but I average about 40 “gotta read this or gotta do this” in detail messages a day and average 18 phone calls in a day.

Home

1. Personal email account on Gmail.  I have accounts on most other providers (yahoo, aol, hotmail, etc. simply for instant messaging purposes, but they don’t get checked that often.)
2. Google Reader
3. Personal cell phone - I average about two calls a day on this one plus 10 - 15 text messages (a little news and some personal communication with family and friends)
4. Home phone with voice mail
5. Mailbox at the end of my driveway and wherever the UPS/FedEx driver decides to lay packages on a given day. (They are both very creative with where they will stick a package)
6. The inbox at church - I am the volunteer audio visual coordinator at church (which basically means I spend as much time doing that job as I do on my full time job - or at least it feels that way). This isn’t too bad now as most stuff gets sent through on email.
7. The inbasket on my desk at home where I lay stuff I really should be doing.
8. My Tivo “Now Playing” list.  I love Tivo!!!

Those are my lists, although they probably aren’t 100% complete, but it is everything I can think of.  I’ve tried every way I can think to get all this down to a smaller number, but the plain and simple fact - at least as I read this - is that technology doesn’t always make our lives easier.  I remember a time (barely - I am still pretty young) before answer machines and voice mail; before cell phones; and even (gasp!!) before email.  Take out those from my lists above and my lists get cut in half.  (Don’t take away the Tivo though as that is nothing but a good thing - some technology really does make our lives easier). 

There you have it - my inboxes.  I’d love to cut this number down and know that if I spent some time forwarding phones and forwarding emails and doing all sorts of other things I could probably reduce this number - but what if you do want (or in my case need) to keep your lives separate.  Personal and work shouldn’t mix (at least not where there is a fiscal ramification or where church and state need to be kept separate and my personal political opinions and affiliations can’t mix with my job).  How do you maintain all these inboxes and keep your life a little less hectic so you don’t have all these inboxes?