A recent Sunday Routine column in the New York Times profiled sixty-something Broadway producer Ron Simons who had this to say about a task he is doing less of:
[On a Sunday evening] I talk myself into opening mail, which I have let pile up for a month so that my box is so full it has to be given to our doorman to hold. Mail creates action items — like responding to an invite, paying a bill or cashing checks, all of which I hate doing.
I do not recommend putting off paying bills or cashing checks (here’s to autopay and ACH deposits)… but the idea of ignoring the mail (or just putting it straight into the bin) is very tempting. He could also have said, “e-mail creates action items” and that is even more true.