Inbox Zero? I guess having 391 unread emails proves that I am no inbox zero adherent, eh?
391.
I think this is the highest number of unread emails I have ever let my inbox build up to before clearing them up.
The Build-Up
I have read about inbox zero and love the idea. But every time I have to run more errands than usual or try to catch up on stuff to do around the house (or blog!), the emails just keep piling up.
Also, when I am feeling overwhelmed, I will ignore what is easily ignored – clearing my emails. But the emails just kept on coming. I wonder if it would reach 500.
But I think no.
Because seeing the number of unopened and unattended to emails makes me anxious. So I will usually clear them down to about 50 before I ignore it again. But I have discovered that there are a lot of people who are comfortable allowing their inboxes to build up to thousands of unopened and unattended to emails!
Wow!
Anyway, I often clear my inbox over the weekend when I have slightly more “free” time. And every time I clear my inbox it will occur to me over and over that since I don’t work out of the home or in the home in the way the world defines work, I actually do not have many emails that require my attention.
So why do I have 391 unread and unopened emails?!
Email Subscriptions
I have a lot of emails because I signed up for email notifications from blogs and companies whom I thought have useful information for me. In other words, this email clutter is all my doing. No one coerced me to sign up. I voluntarily signed up for them.
This is 2020. The thrill of receiving emails has long left the house. So why was I signing up for these emails?
FOMO
Yep. It is the ugly fear of missing out (FOMO) syndrome. I did not want to miss out on what I think is helpful information.
I want to be kept in the loop and know ALL things: like the latest sale Zalora is having, the latest health research or even the latest trending dish that everyone is raving about.
I also did not want to miss out on getting the freebies these companies and blogs are offering if I would only give them my email. 20% discount if I signed up? Sure! Free Menu Plan in exchange for my email? Bring it on!
And so, I freely signed up for what I think are helpful subscriptions. So the clutter in my inbox builds up. And up and up.
391 and Counting
I am usually rather good about ignoring all the numbers next to my email or Facebook apps. The red circle with the ever-growing number inside it? I just ignore them all. But, 391 is a bit much. There needs to be some intervention.
Unsubscribe
Just as I had shared that I am a minimalist but not by choice, I decided that I need to do the same thing with the email clutter too. So, over the weekend, I took the opportunity to unsubscribe from these newsletters. I had already done one round three to four months ago but constant decluttering is a necessary evil.
Helping Fellow Bloggers
And I like to think that I am helping these companies and especially bloggers on a few fronts. How?
- Not their target audience. If I don’t even bother to open their emails within a week, I am obviously not that excited to receive their emails. So they should not be wasting their energy and time on me.
- Save them money. I save them money when I unsubscribe because, to send me emails on a regular basis, they need to pay an email subscription provider a monthly fee (as I do). And this fee increases the greater the number of subscribers they have. Even if the subscriber never opens her emails.
- Save them from being blacklisted. Do you know that if I do not open up their emails after a while, their email addresses can get marked as spam which lowers their credibility the next time they send out emails to other people?
So, I have been happily unsubscribing the past week and am still continuing. Remembering that constant decluttering is necessary with physical as well as digital stuff.
(If you have signed up for my weekly emails and no longer find them helpful or relevant, please feel free to unsubscribe. No hard feelings! But if you find them useful, do forward them to your friends and relatives and get them to subscribe.)
Guarding My Inbox
I understand that true inbox zero is not possible. But having so many (unnecessary) emails in my inbox that I miss important emails is not productive. This means I need to be wiser about giving out my email address and be more disciplined in clearing my emails on a daily if not weekly basis.
Preventing Email Clutter
Need help to declutter your email inbox? Here are some tips that have helped me:
Questions to Ask Before Signing Up
- Why did/am I signing up for this company/blogger’s email updates?
- Do I like what is written? (Not 100% of course but at least 70% of the time.)
- Are these emails/blog posts relevant and helpful?
- Do I implement what is shared or recommended?
- Do I click on the links in the email?
Here’s another tip: if you have signed up only to get a freebie or discount, quickly unsubscribe after it is downloaded.
Clear Emails Regularly
If you can, you should aim to clear your emails daily. If you can’t, at least once a week. Once a month is way too long. Besides, everything that is time sensitive would have expired.
The 2-Minute Rule
Just as I had recommended the one-touch method in my Minimalist But Not By Choice post, you should also have a one-touch rule with your emails. As David Allen advises in his book Getting Things Done, everything that takes less than two minutes to deal with should be dealt with immediately.
So…
- Open, read, delete.
- Open, read, reply
- Open, read, file.
Most email systems allow you to sort your emails with labels or tags. Use them! Don’t tell yourself, I’ll get to it later because later never comes around.
A Separate Email Account for Newsletters
Another suggestion is to have a separate email account for newsletter and sales updates. You can then go through these emails on a weekly basis, especially for sales updates since most of them are time sensitive.
Your Turn
So, how’s *your* inbox? Is it stuffed full of emails that you have not read? Do you have over a hundred or thousand unread emails?
Do you sign up for newsletters and updates from everyone and their dog only to not open them?
Friend, it is time to do yourself and the blogger a favour by unsubscribing and then deleting the emails if they are no longer serving you this season of your life.
[Post was originally published on 18th February 2019.
It has been updated and edited.]
Related Posts
FOMO Only Leads to Stress and Worry
Minimalist But Not By Choice
Constant Decluttering is a Necessity in our Large Family