I’m writing this as a kid who was also very spotty about checking my email. There were multiple times in high school where I neglected to do so and what should have been “nothing” turned into a “situation.”
All kinds of things can happen to lead to that result. Maybe you saw the email, thought nothing of it, and went on with your life until a deadline passed. Maybe you just ignored or deleted it because you thought it was nothing.
You name it, I’ve done it. And I’ve put a lot of unnecessary stress on myself as well as parents, teachers, and others (haha) because of it.
But there are a lot more reasons to not only read, but keep up your email than missing deadlines.
First off, there are opportunities. You can’t take advantage of opportunities that you don’t know exist.
One of the best experiences of my basketball career originated from an email.
I had been subscribed to the Elite Guard Training email list for a while. Then one day in April I got an email about their live camp. Eventually I signed up to go. It ended up being the best camp that I ever went to. All from an email.
The camp was very professional, which leads me to my next point.
Professionals are clean and organized in everything they do. Their cars, houses, rooms, and desk are impeccable.
Their email is no different. If you want to have the power associated with being a professional, then your email needs to be kept clean as well.
Speaking of power, there is a certain amount of power involved in reading your email.
Allow me to explain: In high school, our principle would send out an email everyday with everything that was going on. It would have birthdays, general announcements, information specifically for each grade level, everything.
To be honest, 90% of it was irrelevant. However, some of it was relevant, and even important. If you have these types of emails in your school or organization and you read them, you put yourself in the know.
When you know what’s going on, people will start to notice. They will start to come to you whenever they have questions because they are too lazy to read it themselves. They start to rely on you.
That’s ok though. If they think they “need” the information you have, then you have something that’s in demand. You have a small bit of leverage and the small bit of power that comes with it.
Not to mention that you really are in the know- it's not like you're faking it- and you have your shit together. You don’t get stressed out because you missed a deadline or overlooked something. You don’t have fractured focus because there’s a million emails or your mind that you're going to have to deal with at some point.
Finally, you get to take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way simply because you know it’s there.
All this from a task that takes less than five minutes per day.
Athlete-Student
BucketsoverBooks
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