Another form of bankruptcy

They pile up.

More and more keep coming every day.

You know you need to deal with them.

"But what I really need," you think to yourself, "is a fresh start."

We're not talking about a big stack of bills. We're talking about all of that stuff in your e-mail in-box.

We're talking about declaring "e-mail bankruptcy."

Michelle Kessler, in a USA Today article, says that some "prominent techies" are dealing with jam-packed in-boxes "by declaring 'e-mail bankruptcy' - deleting or archiving an entire in-box and starting over."

One guy wiped out a three-year backlog that way.

Drastic stuff, but sometimes desperate situations call for desperate measures.

Kessler writes that Intel, the giant chipmaker, is taking a more measured approach to email overload by declaring "Zero E-mail Fridays." Intel's engineers are being encouraged to pick up the phone instead, or even meet face-to-face with colleagues.

But if a zero e-mail day (or even two) each week doesn't solve your overload problem, the nuclear option of total e-mail bankruptcy may be the answer.

Unless, of course, you're getting this blog fed to you via e-mail. There is such a thing as being overzealous.

We'd prefer that you think of us as an exempt asset, instead.