Somewhere in my late thirties I noticed that the first thing I did each morning was to ask strangers what I should do with my day. I had not decided to do this. It was just that the inbox was open, and it was easier to respond than to think.
Email is, in structure, a to-do list written by other people and delivered unprompted. There is nothing wrong with other people having needs. The trouble is letting their order of urgency become mine, before I have had a chance to work out my own.
