THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017
FEATURES
Overwhelmed by emails
Dear Annie: As of this writing, I about seeing your response. What
is wrong with me? I feel paralyzed.
have 6,972 unread emails.
A lot of them are promotions How can I begin to tackle this? —
from stores I shopped at once. Some Inbox Infinity
Dear Inbox: Procrastination and
are from social media sites, telling
me I have notifications — Face- anxiety are each other’s best cheer-
book, LinkedIn, Pinterest — which leader. Anxiety encourages procras-
tination, and vice versa.
I hardly ever check.
DEAR
Remove one of them and
I guess I never got into
you’ll deflate the other.
the habit of deleting these
ANNIE
So start by calming
messages as they came
down. Tell yourself, “Noth-
in, and then once the pile
ing catastrophic is going to
started growing, it just
happen because I didn’t
seemed so overwhelming
delete emails.” Although
that I gave up even trying.
such a laissez-faire attitude
I wish I could just delete
might seem counterpro-
everything and start fresh,
Lane
ductive, it’s a lot easier to
get my inbox back down Annie
Creators
Syndicate Inc.
get moving once you take
to zero.
that enormous weight off
In some cases, I have
emails from people I would like your shoulders.
Then snap to it and get that
to talk to. For instance, my cousin,
whom I haven’t talked to in over inbox under control, first by plug-
a year, emailed me last month. ging the dam so you can prevent
I’ve kept putting it off until I have floods of promotional emails in the
enough time to sit down and write future. Open the latest email you
a thoughtful response. Now it’s received, and scroll to the bottom.
been so long I feel awkward about Look for the “unsubscribe” button
(in microscopic font). Do that for
replying.
I have a similar problem with every major vendor that’s flooding
voicemail. I delay checking my your inbox.
Next, delete with abandon. Trash
messages, and sometimes I just
every promotional email that’s
ignore them altogether.
After I click “send” on this email more than a week old. Resist the
to you, I’m going to have anxiety urge to save emails “just in case.” If
you were really interested in read-
ing last week’s Pinterest newsletter,
you already would have.
Dear Annie: I read the let-
ter from “Miffed,” about her expe-
rience with a friend who was not
there for her during a medical scare.
I, too, had a friend who I thought
would always be there for me —
especially because I had been there
for her through a lot of stuff. How-
ever, when my husband went in the
hospital and was given a very upset-
ting diagnosis, she was not there.
No phone call, no visit, nothing.
Also, the day after he was released
from the hospital, I turned 50 and
his mother died. Again, nothing
from this friend whom I had been
so very close to.
It took me a while to get over the
anger and hurt and to move on with-
out her in my life. I put the anger
and hurt in an imaginary box and
nailed it shut and handed it over to
the Lord. Once I did this, I was able
to focus on the good things and the
good people in my life who were
there for me. I hope “Miffed” will
move on and appreciate what her
other friends and family members
did and are doing and realize that
this person is no longer of impor-
tance in her life. — Over Being
Miffed
3C
TOMORROW’S HOROSCOPE
By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). The better your
relationship is with another or with yourself,
the less you require from your environment.
An ordinary meal, a walk, a shopping trip —
all opportunities for amazing romance and/or
rapturous enjoyment of life.
Socializing is definitely worth doing.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Today feels
like a jelly doughnut. The best stuff is in the
center. You’re right! To find a thing’s center,
bite into it. If it can’t be bitten, dig. If it can’t be
dug, drill.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). The
impact of environment on human behavior
cannot be underestimated. Test the theory
by changing yours up significantly. See if that
doesn’t change the way people behave in
your home, particularly loved ones.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You’ve a par-
ticular set of curiosities that speak to your
intelligence. What you’re after might not be
popular with everyone. If no one is lining up
to see it, it’s not any less interesting.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). Finding the
one you like best takes faith and devotion to
a process. It’s a lot harder than going with
the one who got there first. And what if the
first one turns out to be the best one after all?
You’ll never know unless you shop around.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Eating some-
thing new buoys the spirit more than most
new things, especially if that fresh flavor is
exceptionally pleasing. Cook for your loved
ones. Make memories.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Everyone
knows you’re not supposed to stare into the
sun and nor should you look directly at the
super-watt lightbulb. Also, there’s an art to
looking on the bright side.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). It will feel as
though your actions are questions instead of
answers. If you knew it all, the day would be
boring. You’re willing to accept the uneasi-
ness that comes with exploration.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Like the pop artist
Sia, you feel you have something to say
today, but you don’t necessarily want to be
recognized for saying it. In fact, you’d rather
be left alone to do your thing. Therefore, you
may use someone else as your mouthpiece.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). There are a lot
of boxes you haven’t checked. Good news:
You don’t have to, not now, not ever. You
might later. Be OK with that. You’re a kind
person, and you give your all. That’s enough
for today.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Lose some-
thing? Chances are that it’s very close to
you; you’re just not seeing it. What you need
to do is clean up. To find what you can’t see,
strip away what you can.
TOMORROW’S BIRTHDAY (Jan. 7). Military
or not, you’ll be a soldier in your life this
year, willing to stand, fight, love and live for a
principle. Your loyalty to a group or ideology
will guide the action in the next four months.
You’ll see victory in May and July. You’ll enjoy
financial rewards with loved ones in March
and August adventures. Gemini and Libra
adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 5, 2, 14,
39 and 27.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). It’s very easy to
be the most charismatic person in the room
these days. All you have to do is engage the
world instead of looking at your cellphone. If
it’s worth doing, it’s worth your full attention.
FRANK AND ERNEST
BLONDIE
THATABABY
SALLY FORTH
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
B.C.
LOLA
DILBERT
SIX CHIX
BIZARRO
MUTTS
NON SEQUITUR
BABY BLUES
WIZARD OF ID
ZITS
ROSE IS ROSE