Everyone uses email. Whether for business or pleasure, email is essential. And often stressful! Cluttered inboxes, never-ending spam, and the constant question of “do I really stand to inherit millions from some deceased distant relative??”
IT'S STRESSFUL. So. Here’s how to keep a cleaner, less stressful email inbox!
1. Know what to unsubscribe from.
This is a first, and highly essential step in keeping a cleaner inbox. Most email clutter comes from subscriptions. Subscriptions designed to tempt you into thinking they might, maybe, one day, possibly be useful. But chances are that you’ll just Google stuff you want to know as you want to know it rather than dredging up an old email. Either that or you should save it for later in a folder.
How to unsubscribe from unwanted email subscriptions. Marketing content is required to have an unsubscribe option included in the email. Skeevy content creators try and hide the button by making it tiny or including it at the end of the email and otherwise making it difficult to see. Typically, you’ll be able to find the unsubscribe link at the end of the email as a hyperlinked bit of text. Click on it, and you will be taken to a page where you can be removed from their emailing list.
Unsubscribing from emails will VASTLY decrease the amount of clutter in your inbox. I suggest deleting everything at once and then unsubscribing bit by bit as the new emails roll in. Trying to unsubscribe from hundreds of emails all at once is WAY stressful. Don't bite off more than you can chew.
2. Send it straight to Spam.
Much like the luncheon meat, your spam folder can and should be filled with mysterious things. If you can’t find an email’s unsubscribe link, mark its sender as Spam! Marking the sender as Spam will help your email software know to not show items sent by similar users in the future.
3. Save the ones you need.
Yes, there’s clutter in your inbox, but some of it is useful clutter! Old receipts, a project you’re still working on, log-in information, that recipe from your Great Aunt, etc. Don’t feel like you must delete those important emails for the sake of a clean inbox! You can absolutely keep emails you want by moving them into appropriately named folders. Just create some folders. Give them useful names such as: Receipts, Education, D&D, Susan, Follow Up, whatever is appropriate.
Now when you get an email you want to keep, just move it to the right folder and it’ll be easy to find again when you need it!
4. DELETE EMAILS WHEN YOU’RE DONE
This step sounds like the simplest one, but it can be a hurdle. As soon as you’ve dealt with the subject of the email and accomplished the task connected to it, delete the email. Put it in a folder if you want to keep the message, but otherwise, all emails you’ve finished dealing with should be deleted!
5. Enjoy your clean inbox!
At long last. . . Enjoy your beautifully tidy inbox! Maybe put a nice colored theme on so you can bask in the glory of your less stressful life.