EMAIL CLEAN OUT
I would guess that this is a task almost everyone dreads. I have put off cleaning out my email for months and months, but waking up to 80+ spam emails every morning and then dozens of email promotions throughout the day, most of which I never read, got out of control. If nothing else, I hope this post prompts you to clean out your email!
I think people fall into two general categories when it comes to emails: those that avoid the notifications on your phone or computer, and those that do not mind those little notifications, even as they get into the hundreds or thousands. I am in the first category, which just means I have a never ending inbox of opened emails instead of notifications for new emails. Either way, the need to cut down on the emails in your inbox exists, whether opened or unopened, and I put together a few steps to help organize your inbox:
UNSUBSCRIBE. Some email services and applications on your devices provide an “unsubscribe” option at the top of an email and it will send the unsubscribe email for you. Others, you have to look at the fine print at the end of the email. And beware, some companies have additional steps beyond clicking “unsubscribe” at the end of the email, such as typing in your email and clicking submit, or checking a box to opt out of all emails or specific types of emails (see examples below). Be sure to pay attention to this last step and actually unsubscribe. This fooled me several times and even after I thought I opted out of certain emails, I kept receiving them. Until I looked closer at the unsubscribe page. Spend a little bit of time going through your inbox and do an unsubscribe purge (I did it one night while I was watching a mindless TV show). Also as an interim step, you can move your unwanted emails to your Junk/Spam folder. Most email services will recognize mass emails and they will automatically go to your spam folder in the future.
DELETE EMAILS. Whether opened or unopened, delete all of the emails you do not need. A big one for me was Amazon order notifications. I open them, keep the email until the item ships, and then hope to delete it when the order arrives… or that’s how it is supposed to work any way. Delete. Delete. Delete.
CREATE FOLDERS. I am embarrassed how out of control my personal email has been lately. My work email and work inbox are always immaculate, with less than a dozen emails in my inbox at all times and everything is filed in the appropriate folder almost immediately. Usually, my inbox, both personal and professional, is reserved for any items outstanding, like emails still requiring a response or action. But my personal email starts out using that system and then I forget to file them or delete them when I do not need them. I create folders that make my life easier, not over complicated my life. I try to keep the folders broad enough that I end up with more than a few emails in each, but not too specific that it makes it difficult for me to remember or figure out where I want to put an incoming email. For example, I create a tax folder for each year, and when tax documents start to come in at the beginning of the year I add them to the folder. Then at tax time, I do not have to dig through my emails. But instead of having a general “Tax” folder, adding the year makes it easier to find what I am looking for and to reference back.
NEW EMAIL ACCOUNT. Hear me out for a minute. Create a second email account. But ONLY for online shopping, email sign-ups, etc. I have done this for a while and it has made maintaining my email a lot easier. Not only do I avoid putting my personal email all over the internet, my personal email does not get clogged with as many nonsense emails. I can shut off my “shopping email” on my phone when I am in situations when I do not need to see the daily deals or shopping receipts. And apps allow you to add more than one account on the app so I can get those emails on my phone, too (on the iPhone, go to Settings — Mail —- Accounts —- Add Account). I still create folders and my organization system within my shopping email account for things like receipts, orders, and returns.
MAINTAIN A SYSTEM. It’s inevitable that your email will get out of control again (post-holiday shopping is prime time to do a clean out because during the holidays we all signed up for emails and deals we no longer need on a regular basis). But the goal is to create a system that can make email maintenance and clean up easier in the future. After you clean out your email, try to file emails away; try to get on an unsubscribe kick and get in the habit of unsubscribing as unwanted emails come in; go through your inbox periodically; and every so often, take the time to do an email purge.
