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03, 2019
NBC Today Jan. 2013 – What does your email inbox say about you?
By Dr. Greenfield

By Matt Murray, TODAY

It’s the moment of truth. You receive that notification that you have an unread email in your inbox, and what you do next may say more about you than you realize.

There is a correlation between your inbox and your personal life, according to Dr. David Greenfield, director of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction.

“How you are in your inner life is a reflection of how you do things in your outer life,” Greenfield said on TODAY Tuesday.

Those who try to keep their inbox as clean as possible may be more particular about certain things day to day, Greenfield explained.

TODAY’s Jenna Wolfe and New Yorker editor Silvia Killingsworth both try to maintain a near-constant “no new emails” status.

Killingsworth recently wrote about it for the magazine, where she discussed the constant struggle of trying to achieve “Inbox Zero.” Killingsworth likened her attempt to keep a clean inbox to being in a boat, paddling against the current.

“They want to keep (their inbox) tidy just like the rest of their lives,” said Greenfield. “So their closets are probably neat; their car is probably neat.”

On the other hand, there are those who will skim a subject line and move on with their lives, not worrying about opening or deleting the email. Greenfield said these people may be overextended or expansive.

“(This is an individual) that doesn’t focus on as much of the detail of life, but has a bigger picture focus. They are focused more on the forest as opposed to the trees.”

TODAY executive producer Don Nash said he falls into this category, although he makes an effort to try and go through all of the day’s emails before bed. That doesn’t always happen.

“I constantly feel guilty about it,” Nash confessed.

What’s your inbox style?