Our overwhelmingly busy lives require that we make difficult decisions when it comes to prioritizing our time. There's no better evidence of this than our email inbox.
The messages sitting there at the end of each day are the ones you deemed insufficiently important to warrant a response. That's not necessarily a reflection of your value as a productive human being. (After all, when you're drinking from a firehose, you're likely to make a puddle.)
But sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the people who authored those neglected emails. While what they had to say may not have ranked on your list of priorities, it's important to remember that an ignored communication can leave a negative impression on a key relationship.
So, take a moment and sort your inbox by "sender." Were any of your older emails sent by potential referral sources, partners, prospective clients, or existing ones? Make sure there aren't any high-priority relationships stagnating among your low priority messages lest you inadvertently disrespect someone important.
