AND 3 BIG Steps to Declutter Your Emails This Month
Really. With 10s of thousands of emails piling up, it really is OK to declare email bankruptcy. This may be your best option to archive them all and start over at zero today.
I will be taking time in this warm spring month of May to declutter my emails. Spending that extra time in April on my digital financial clutter had me neglecting my regular email maintenance. Just like in my home, when I focus on decluttering and cleaning in one area, sometimes other areas suffer. It’s my own real-life whack-a-mole game and it can feel like I‘ll never win. Ultimately, it’s not a game I need to ‘win,’ simply a task I need to manage.
Step 2: Slow the avalanche!
Bulk delete. All those emails that you receive but never open, unsubscribe from as many as possible. As much as you may want to read these emails, you can’t get to them all. There simply isn’t enough time in the day. Some emails only suited our needs for a specific period of time and you have since moved on. Use your email app’s automatic forwarding option to send emails to a folder for the ones you need to keep.
Step 3: Need Data Space Fast?
Search by size. Gmail allows you to search for data hogging emails. You can search for emails that are over a chosen size by clicking on the dropdown menu in the search bar. Then type in the requested size such as 10MB and any email, usually ones with larger attachments, will be listed for you to make quick decisions and recapture needed data space.
Step 3: Be decisive!
There are only a limited number of choices for each email, so choose from one of the three options listed below:
☑️ Keep or organize the email within your email app.
☑️ Move it to another storage option such as a hard drive or another cloud option.
or
☑️ delete it.
Don’t forget after each session to mark your progress! I like to track my progress on simple spreadsheet. Seeing the numbers drop as I regain control of my accounts is motivating for me. Mark your progress, by writing in the numbers or using a gold star for a reward. Which rewards work best for you?
How many email accounts have you decluttered? How many emails have you cleaned out? Did you know there is an image and a message waiting for you when your gmail inbox drops to zero? I’m curious if other accounts, like Outlook, have a similar message when you empty your inbox.
By the end of May, how many emails will you have decluttered this month?
Digital Declutter CEO 