YAY!

The problem is (one problem is) I unsubscribe all the time and then they end up right back in my inbox. I have written about this a while back I think, and things I did to reduce it. I am pretty sure my primary Gmail was well over 100k.

Primary personal Gmail:

Auxiliary personal Gmail:

Work email:

While I have worked on it, I think of it as not unlike junkmail in real life. How much of that do you throw away without opening? The issue with physical mail is you need to throw it out or deal with it IRL. Email feels theoretical.

Yes, that’s exactly how I thought about it. The sheer volume of unread emails started to worry me. If I had anywhere near 100,000 emails hanging around i would be a fetal position ball of anxiety. As I have tried to address all the open loops of unfinished projects, unstarted projects, unfiled papers, uninterred ashes, undigitized pictures, unfinished plans, books i haven’t read, stuff I haven’t thrown away— basically all the things that in their current state are not as I would wish them to be— 37,000 emails actually seemed like a good step forward, tilme consuming but not difficult. Many things on my list I have simply let go, acknowledging that I am never going to get around to them. It’s okay because if I really wanted to devote the time and effort, I would. I guess it’s essentially a huge prioritization project, and turning 70 this year most certainly has something to do with it. If I’m unsure about something it can go into the ”someday/maybe” list and when I revisit that in a few months I may move it to a different place on the timeline. Or strike it off. It does feel good to close these open loops or at least have them in a queue or part of a plan to complete.

I'm so jealous! I've GOT to do this too!

Please don't hate me. I have always operated this way. My poor mind gets all twitterpated if my in box is not properly managed. I have a sorting system for the in box (color coded) so I know at a glance if the email is awaiting my action, someone else's action, etc.

What I do have is a problem with saved emails/folders. I bet I have 50 or so folders, 95% of which could be culled. So, while my in box is pristine, apparently I just moved the clutter further down the screen. 🙄 Alas, that doesn't bother me at all. 😄

I do most of my communicating and reading on a tablet now. Sending emails to folders is not as easy without a mouse and keyboard so messages I want to hold onto stay unclassified— messy and frustrating.

That's a huge accomplishment. I just checked and I have 2841 in my inbox. I do have some folders, but I only started using them fairly recently. I was disappointed to learn that --forgive my ignorance on the terminology and understanding---- memory usage is only decreased when the total number of emails is decreased. When I move them to folders, there is no change other than the inbox is smaller and neater. I do not leave any unread.

I keep playing with this, and set little goals like this week I have to get the inbox to under 2800.... I do delete the ones that there is no question I have no need to save.......but the others keep coming and coming and I guess I have that fear that I will need some silly piece of information "some day". I'm much better at decluttering tangibles......thankfully.

Anyway that was a massive feat and I will look at that as inspiration!

I have three different email addresses that I use for different purposes. One is for online shopping, forms, etc. The other two are only for people or companies I know. I don't have any unread email. I process it pretty much every day and either file it in a folder if it's something relatively important/useful, delete it if it's entirely useless or leave it in my inbox if I may want it for a while but not forever. My gmail has 671 in the inbox. Occasionally I will scroll through the inbox and delete a bunch of those. I don't know how many are in my other inboxes but they date back to 2004 including a bunch from Kitchens when I was remodeling ours. The place where the most unnecessary email accumulates is in the sent folder. Once in a while I purge some of those as well.

Kswl, so weird, but i have been doing exactly the same thing this past week! I’m not quite finished as I was distracted by some unexpected things right in the middle of it the past 2 days but am trying to get back to it. I’d say I am about 80-90% there and down to around 200 unread.

I started unsubscribing to many websites a while back and that has helped. But like Mtn said, some ignore you. It also means you need to be ruthless in just deleting things you have not read or at least glanced at or skimmed with the mindset you will not look for this again.

I need do this.

Might be a good activity while binge watching a mindless series.

I’m obsessive about dealing with my inbox daily. Mine is currently nearly empty.

I can’t stand to see ”notifications” anywhere in life … email, phone calls/texts, on this board, social media, etc.

So yes, overly fussy, which is odd as I’m normally very laid-back about things.

Wow. So here's my question for Jilly and others who have almost empty inboxes.... do you really file everything in folders and are you able to locate when you need them? I find even the filing to sometimes be glitchy and I'll swear I moved something to "A" for example and it's not there, but in " ZZ " or something similar.

Salon, my folder system works pretty well, but mostly I just deal with whatever the email is about, then delete. So even my folders are pretty streamlined. I also sometimes put pertinent info I’ll need later in ”Notes” (iPad) and/or in a physical notebook or files. Old school system. :)

I’m the same way with mail and other paperwork.

My main inbox is under 200 but the folders are a whole other issue! I guess I can get rid of the folders, or at least most the the contents, from things like maintaining and selling my parents’ house, holiday rsvps from 11 years ago, etc.

My other inbox is easier, it’s for websites I signed up for or businesses.

I’m getting used to managing mail on my tablet, but still miss a computer for that. And my phone, well, the interface changes, er, ”updates”, from time to time and it drives me nuts.

This reminds me of a former coworker. A few years ago, he passed away and I was tasked with the "clean up" of his work affairs. His email had over 80K UNREAD emails. Fortunately most of them were junk. I spent nearly a month just trudging through!

The OCD in me won't allow me to leave unread emails or spam in my main email box.

I have 10 unread emails right now, but my inbox is stuffed with heaven only knows how many read but undeleted emails.

Currently 14 in my inbox, all read. A couple have attachments that I need to print. One is a conversation that will go for another day or two. Two regard an upcoming reunion.

It's never empty, but I try move things through.

Like many of you, I have separate email addresses for different sorts of things. I go through most of them every day so the inbox stays pretty clear. I save important subjects in a folder, but most items are read, dealt with and deleted. There are a couple that I go through once a week, but they have low volume.