Ask HN: How can I stop my inbox/wishlist/bookmarks/tabs/todos from growing?

What I learned from the COVID vaccine is that seeing something twice separated by frequency is a pretty good model for other things. So instead of bookmarking something the first time I see it, I make a mental note, and then the next time I see it, I go add a bookmark or learn more about that. For example, rqlite has been on my radar for a while. I heard about it, thought "that's neat" and promptly forgot its name. Then I saw it again, and decided "ok, I'll install it and see what it's like to interact with". Now I know it well, but if it never came up again, then I wouldn't bother knowing about it.

This technique doesn't work for everyone, of course, but it's how I stay sane.

For work-related interrupts; inbox, Slack, code reviews... I just do those immediately. If someone is blocked on me, I'm just throwing away money if I make them ask again a day later (since they are probably off to YouTube to chill out or something until I do the thing they asked). I find it very easy to jump back into something, even if I was in the legendary "flow state" at the time. (This is a skill you teach yourself, not an intrinsic aspect of your personality, I think.)

Finally, it's worth noting that you don't have to reply to your emails if you dont' want to. Just because someone wants something from you (your time) doesn't mean you have to give it to them. Too much of this, though, and people will stop talking to you. Maybe that's what you want, maybe that's not what you want. As with everything, there is a feedback loop and you are in control of whether it increases or decreases the volume of requests. (I suppose you can do this at work too. "If you don't want to be asked to do something, don't do a good job," they say. But, again, too much of that and you just get fired ;)

Absolutely declare bankruptcy. You'll realize it's different from dying and come through a better, more self-aware person.

> The writer Umberto Eco belongs to that small class of scholars who are encyclopedic, insightful, and nondull. He is the owner of a large personal library (containing thirty thousand books), and separates visitors into two categories: those who react with “Wow! Signore, professore dottore Eco, what a library you have ! How many of these books have you read?” and the others - a very small minority - who get the point that a private library is not an ego-boosting appendage but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you don’t know as your financial means, mortgage rates and the currently tight real-estate market allows you to put there. You will accumulate more knowledge and more books as you grow older, and the growing number of unread books on the shelves will look at you menancingly. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call this collection of unread books an antilibrary.

I'd say just get a filing/search system and be happy to have a large antilibrary

Hoarding is a fear, you may manage it with various techniques, but the simplest is to just face it by deleting everything. The status quo is already paradoxical - you have it all but can never use anything of it actually. Deletion would just admit the fact.

I’d add don’t delete things that are factually useful, like work/gym playlists or documentation bookmarks which you use weekly at least. But if you feel that creates another spiral, get rid of that as well.

Radically a) reduce AND b) organize these things. Take two weeks off (or similar), and stop EVERYTHING that comes in automatically from coming in automatically, but instead move feeds to bookmarks, so you can read these things IF YOU WANT. No newsletters (just bookmark the mainpages). Deactivate all notifications and alerts, unless your daily life depends on it.

Consume all open tabs, store important stuff in bookmarks and delete non-important things.

Take all your digital data and organize it properly, i'm using Apple Notes for all text infos (accounts, notes, ideas) and HDDs for storage (Movies, Music).

It's okay to have 5000 notes, if they are organized properly and OUT OF SIGHT. I have folder with subfolders just with recipes, places and cars I like, but it works fine. Use Folders!

Keep ONE "pinned" (Apple) Note on top, naming it TODO and just put everything that you REALLY have to do in there, work it down over the next weeks, no excuse. Get focus in your life. Spend your day doing this list, everything else is distraction.

Bonus: Remove everything from your smartphone that's not essential. Go berserk and delete the email app. No "incoming" stuff except real communication with real friends and family. No Slack, no email, no social media.

Bonus 2: Keep a clean computer: empty desktop, 1-2 tabs max, one task at a time, one monitor, one focus. Everything has it's place.

Bonus 3: Grab a friend or stranger and do this together, share your progress. This helps so much.

Be Marie Kondo, but with computers ;)