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The life of an Email freak

jakoblodwick:

My inbox makes me so angry. Its existence infuriates me. It is the most intimate part of my life that I have no control over. It is always a mess and always needs attention.

I cannot abruptly stop using email because there is no single alternative for all the functions it performs

I believe any invention which reduces the role of the inbox will make me happier. I would gladly pay for this sort of thing.

I have recently undergone a 12 month project to take control of my email so it no longer controls me. In Julie Morgensten’s book Making Work Work, she suggests not checking email for the first hour of you day ‘at work’. I am serious! I tried it, and believe it or not my productivity was amazing. But I gave in as I am an email junkie.

I have had my personal email address for a LONG time. I would wake up to 50 or 60 emails. A majority of them weren’t even important.  Let it be known, I cannot live without email. At all. For the past 13 years that is how it has been and I’m not going to give up on my communication buddy anytime soon. So…

The only thing that has worked for me is -

- IMAP

- Unsubscribing. Using unsubscribe has been a liberating experience. Sure, I still have some of my favourite newsletters but it is amazing how many lists you get put on just by signing up for sites. This was the most long winded process and is still something I do now. 12 months and still unsubscribing. Blah.

- Filters, filters and more filters. I have a filter for EVERYTHING. 

- Folders for the filters to work their magic on. I currently have 33 folders and could probably extend this to 35. 

- Gmail. Hmm. Labels just do not work for me. At all. I know there is a way to get Gmail to understand your IMAP’ed folders but I prefer to stick to Roundcube for my webmail when needed and remain faithful to Apple Mail. 

- If you are up for a bigger challenge there is always Operation Inbox Zero. But I like some things in my inbox - especially those emails that make me smile. They can stay before they get filed/deleted. 43 Folders may have a lot of information to help you.

You have to be dedicated and you have to stick to it or you’ll end up back where you started. Maybe unsubscribing from two emails a day and setting up a filter during lunch may be a start. Think of the basic de-cluttering principles and use them on your inbox. I can only say that it really is worth the time and effort.

I hope that helps!