“You can be on line but off track.”

I first heard this said by Jim Rohn, and even back when he said it he hit the nail square on the head.

In another story he related a story about a friend who was prone to TV. Let’s call the friend Mark for the sake of this story.

He asked Mark how much his television set cost him. Mark proudly boasted he snatched a bargain for just $400. Jim turned and said that that was not right, but the friend insisted the widescreen wonder was just $400.

Jim pointed out he was not referring to cost of ownership, but cost of use. Taking Mark’s talents and aptitude into account, the time taken in front of the box rather than pursuing other wealth creating activities was probably costing him over $40,000 a year.

Cost of ownership vs cost of use.

Time is a precious thing and spending it unwisely is costly indeed.

Technology is a blessing and a curse that we carry as a generation. How we steward this incredible gift, once only dreamed of in science fiction but now part of our everyday life, is a key to our fruitfulness.

So much time swirls away in unproductive tasks such as sifting spam email, opening marketing emails, scrolling endless feeds, digging through our days battling information overload.

There is a war on for your attention, and the question is are you winning or losing?

The battle will not go away. If anything it will become more intense as time goes on.

The Bible refers to the devil by the name, “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). Is it any wonder then that he so avidly seeks to dominate the airwaves.

There are numerous weapons we can apply to fortify our will in this struggle.

Here’s one you can implement immediately.

Go to your email inbox and unsubscribe from 90 percent of the newsletters and lists you are presently receiving information and offers from.

One study revealed that, on average, people check their mobile devices up to 150 times per day (some estimate this number even higher). We have a world of distraction in our pockets.

The frightening thing is, we become addicted to the mini-dopamine fix we get every time our brain is alerted by a buzz or a ping.

We can kid ourselves into thinking that the number of gushing emails we receive each day equates to our relative position on the “I am an important person” scale. It is an odd and disturbingly emotional thing to realize that the majority of email addressed to li’l ole me is actually mass communication that in reality is addressed to John Doe and his extended family.

After a vigorous email subscription shave, I am infinitely thankful to discover I’m not nearly as important or as loved as I thought I was.

Start with the bad and the useless – the communications that clearly no longer provide value, or at best are just an entertaining distraction.

Then go on to cull the really dangerous culprits: the good email newsletters.

The ones you are afraid to unsubscribe from, in case you miss out on something.

The ones that fill your inbox with unread gems every week, just waiting to be read (one day) because you are certain they contain something that you think you might just need to know sometime in the future – maybe.

Those ones.

Be bold.

You already have what you need. A random email will not be missed if you are intentionally pursuing your purposes. Go find the information you require, rather than wait for it to drop in your lap(top) by happenchance.

Rarely will your life and business be propelled to the next level by an accidental offer dropping in your inbox. It may be, but it is unlikely.

Most often, it will be intentional action-taking, based on serious research and testing, that moves you forward.

And if there is something that you really need? Can you not believe that God will drop that goodie in your possession just when you need it?

One word. Unsubscribe. It’s the link at the bottom of the email in case you were wondering.

You could even use the free service Uroll.me to hit this one hard. A friend of mine discovered she was enlisted to 118 lists she no longer had any interest in, and those were just her LinkedIn subs!

I have benefited from https://clean.email to rapidly cull my inbox.

How is your email garden looking? Does it need a mow?