Guess what? Organizing a severely neglected email inbox is very time consuming.
I devised a method of organizing everything by color and category:
- Blog Reader Emails
- Company Emails
- Personal Emails
- Travel/Conference Emails
- Freelance Emails
- Web-Related Emails
I still have to sift through a bunch of emails and sort them into their applicable categories, but at least I have a system in place. I’ve sorted about a quarter of my emails and would’ve likely gone through more, but I took some time to respond to a big handful. I’m thinking I should sort first, then respond moving forward. That’s the plan, Stan.
Advice to new bloggers: Get organized from the beginning!
Also, as a side note that those of you in the working world may relate to.. It feels weird not to be using Microsoft Outlook for my “work” emails!
The morning flew by and before I knew it, lunchtime arrived!
Lunch
Lunch today was delicious, thanks to some SeaPak salmon burgers I had chillin’ in the freezer.
I cooked up a salmon burger on the griddle (loving that I could do this today and didn’t have to prep it the night before!). To amp up the flavor of the burger, I prepared some dill dijonaise to spread on top of a toasted whole wheat sandwich thin.
Pickles, carrots and string cheese served as my sides.
Great fuel to help me power through the rest of the day.
I will be taking a brief reprieve around 3:30 because this little lady has an appointment at the vet!
Let’s hope it goes well! The last time I took Sadie to the vet, they requested a stool sample. Sadie ate some of our corn on the cob for dinner the night before the appointment, and let’s just say her feces were… colorful. In corn, out corn.
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Why did they want a stool sample? Sorry, that may be TMI, but I’m a vizsla mommy too .
Organization is exhausting! – but easier to do from the couch in comfy clothes 🙂
The stool sample is to check for intestinal parasite, which are common in dogs. Especially with the humidity and hot weather in the south!
*wasn’t done typing before the comment was submitted…
The joys of being a Vet Tech…we get to check said stool samples on a daily basis 🙂
Oh, Sadie! Our dog got a hold of a corn cob one night and let’s just say what goes in must come out. It was a bit shocking to learn that he doesn’t always chew things he eats. Yeah. However, it wasn’t as bad as the day he got a hold of the green food coloring. Technicolor for days.
Anyway, your lunch looks fab! I’m going to have to look for those burgers.
Aww, I laughed out loud at the captions on Sadie’s photo! Too cute!
BHAHAHAH corn poop!! love it… i hope Sadie is okay! is this just a check up!?…
dang u are so organized! ineed organization help… WAIT please do a post on how u organize ur life.. like planning things, organizing work thngs and such!?
Sounds like you are being quite productive on your first day. I am quite envious that you don’t have to plan out your lunches the night before. I think this would be one of my most favorite things about working from home.
This is my favorite part about working from home! Making lunch is so easy. The hard part comes in to play when you wander into the kitchen an hour before lunch…and an hour after lunch too. 😉 Hugs for Sadie!!
Haha! I love the comment about the corn poop! That picture of Sadie is so funny! It looks like she is concentrating so hard! Good luck at the vet! 🙂
Isn’t that how most things are: Get organized in the beginning! Do I listen to that advice — no…but I know I should!
i can relate to this post SO MUCH re: Sadie. Happy does the exact same thing when she’s done something “bad” or she knows we’re able to leave for work. No eye contact make her think she’s invisible… i think.
Also, a few nights ago, Happy got UP onto our counter and ended up eating half of an entire bag of carrots that we accidently left out (carrots are one of the kinds of treats we give her). Later that night, her poop was full-on bright orange. Noooot even exaggerating. It was crazy!! And quite disgusting… and funny. I swear I’m a good person!
I am definitely dealing with an overstuffed inbox that’s on my to do list!
Great organization idea, i think I’ll try something similar 🙂
Haha. I can totally identify with that. It’s going to be so weird not using Outlook after this week (I’m done with my teaching job in the DR). But I can’t wait to (temporarily) be a stay at home new wife and make our lunches at home. How cute is THAT gonna be? Lol! 🙂
Haha! I hope the vet went well too. I must say, I do envy your new ability to make lunch at home every day now!
Once you get your mail sorted it’s much easier to divide and conquer.
As for Sadie and the corn, it could be worse. Our Doberman once ate a tube sock. We didn’t know until we looked out at the dog run and realized he needed some…help.
i love your blog for many reasons, but the main one is the pics of Sadie. She is so cute!! What kind of dog is she?
She’s a vizsla
hahaha! Hope it all goes well. I LOVE the idea of a salmon burger, YUMM 🙂
And your color coding idea is GENIUS.
Oh dear, Sadie TMI 😉
I know. I fear she’ll pee in my closet tonight for oversharing.
man i would do just about anything to be able to work from home like that…and then maybe i wouldn’t spend the weekend taking the dogs to the vet (all once a year that they have to go)! 🙂 hope you and the little lady have fun!
haha I love the pictures of Sadie. I feel like her and my dog Oscar would get along very well from the sounds of your posts and her mischievousness 🙂
hahaha. Oh dear- hope everything goes okay 🙂 I feel like developing an organization method is half the battle and it looks like you have a great one in place!
Yum, that salmon burger looks delicious! Good luck with your inbox clean-up … Mine was one of the e-mails that you responded to, and it totally made my day! 🙂
Yaaaaay! That makes me happy!! 🙂
Love love love your blog! I’m “peanut butter” obsessed! I’m reading your most recent blog while enjoying butter pecan fro you sprinkled with butterfinger and cookie dough! yummmm to the OOOOOOO! o and you’ve inspired this girl to start blogging!
Now that sounds like my kind of snack!
Sadie is so cute!
Aw, poor Sadie! Imagine if we humans had to give stool samples almost every time we went to the doctor. I would dread annual checkups waaaaaay more. Hope everything comes out just fine!
Hope all goes well at her appointment! 🙂
I thrive on organization too. I love stores like Staples and Container Store.
i think yearly checkups they ask for stool samples….i guess sadie will just have corny poop! ;p
We had almost the exact same lunch!! Except I had a veggie burger instead. Good luck on the organizing!
Way to get organized!
I think that one of the things I would like most about being home.. is making a fresh lunch every day.. rather then packing it up and lugging it to work!
Congrats Julie! That is so awesome about working from home :). I have been reading your blog for a while and really trying to get started on my own. Thanks for inspiration! Good luck with everything andni can’t wait to read about this new adventure
Haha! My dog also evades eye contact – hysterical. They’re such little people.
Hope you’re having a great “1st Day!” 🙂
hahahaha Hope Sadie’s vet trip goes well!!!!!!
I’ve never had a salmon burger before! How is the freezer version??
good!!! i definitely recommend them.
haha! I knew that’s where you were going with that title! I can’t imagine not having Outlook. It’s so convenient for filing and organizing. I know I don’t use gmail to it’s fullest capabilities but I hate it compared to Outlook.
Looks like everything is going well so far! 🙂 glad to see it.
Cooking and eating lunch at home without bringing a huge lunchbox all the way to the office sounds glorious. It’s the simple things, right? 🙂
PS – What’s up with Jane? Goodness!
Wow you are super organized for your first day off of work!
Sadie and Chloe are destined to be best friends. Chloe went to get spayed at the vet today. The poor little babies can now tweet to each other and complain about their mean mommies.
P.S. We need some hater blocking shades for your comments, Julie! People are obnoxious, and I’d love to know (just like on my blog) why people feel the need to read something and then take the time to trash it if they don’t like it.
it beats me. honestly, i don’t think i’ll EVER be able to wrap my head around it.
I can’t find on negative comment and I looked back a few posts?
*A negative comment
she dropped the f-bomb, so it got deleted. plus, she had no email address or form of contact listed, so it clearly served no purpose other than to be evil.
Look at you Ms. Organized! Good work!
Hope all goes well at the vet!
i’ve been reading your blog for a while now and just never commented…i LOVE it and i wish you the best on your life adventure! i feel like if i worked from home i’d snack mindlessly all the time. maybe this is a question for a few weeks from now when you’ve gotten more settled in to your routine, but do you find snacking an issue for you since you’re just a few steps away from your kitchen? best of luck again 🙂
I would love to be able to make my lunch at noon, rather than the night before. Today I ran home to make smoothie that I was craving!
I just made salmon cakes for the first time the other night and was just thinking how they could pretty much serve as salmon burgers as well… Must make the dill dijonaise to go with them though!
coincidence! I had a salmon burger for lunch, I buy a huge pack at Costco and you grill em up frozen! They are delish!
Awww poor Sadie! My dog acts the exact same when going to the vet. My old collie used to throw an absolute fit and lay down when walking out the door..so we’d literally have to drag her to the car.
Super awesome career move by the by. You rock lady lovely.
Woo! Thanks, Whitney!
Ugh, I hate cleaning/organizing my inbox. Sometimes I let messages go so long that I have 100s of unread spam messages! Eeek. What a nightmare!
Maybe they will find more grass in her heiney!!! (reminds me of Marley and Me and the mango-but-bombs he would leave in the back yard!)
I am so proud that you can eay one and only one cheese string portion… i want to eat the whole darn thing and call it a dinner and a day!
don’t be too proud… i went back for two more within two hours. 🙂
With my dog’s current diet, a lot of times the fruit and veggies just slide on out. Usually I wouldn’t notice, but since I pick up her poop when we are on runs or walks, I’ve noticed it more. It’s funny and gross at the same time!
As much as I love to organize I hate the idea of actually organizing so best of luck to you.
Our vet happens to be on the opposite side of town from parents home, same exit off the freeway. If we go right, we are going to grandma’s and one of my pups starts crying in excitement. If we go left, well let’s just say the crying turns into a seriously loud whine of unhappiness. I’m sure Sadie will be fine.
That salmon burger looks perfect! I’m heading out to a seafood dinner tonight… you just mentally prepped me for salmon-something-or-other.
awww Sadie doesn’t want to go~haha that sad face…