As our world becomes increasingly digitized, it is really important to consider how our digital presence is affecting our lives. Are you satisfied with the amount and type of information you are consuming online? Do you receive far more messages than you can respond to on a regular basis? Do you wish you could simplify the amount of time and energy you devote to digital items? If any of these questions resonate with you, it might be time to consider a digital declutter. It's great for your heart, soul, and even your hard drive. My digital declutter series contains 4 parts - email, files and photos, social media, and setting boundaries. Without further ado, here is Part 1 of the Digital Clutter series - Email.
Do you sit down to check your e-mail and think, "How in the world have I received 25 new messages in the past hour?!" If so, you are not alone. Whether it's your business or personal e-mail account, messages often arrive much faster than we can deal with them. If not taken care of, we may fail to see important messages that aren't marked as such. Here are six ways you can declutter your e-mail and feel less stress each time you check your inbox to see what's up.
1) Only Subscribe to E-mails you Really Want to Read
When you visit a site and share your e-mail, you are going to get clutter added to your inbox. If this is a site that you want to see news from regularly, that's fine. Just remember that each time you give our your e-mail address, you are permitting more items to come into your inbox. So, think before you share your e-mail. Only share it with those sites you trust and want to keep getting information from on a regular basis.
2) Organize Important E-mails
Organization is such a helpful tool, even in the digital world. Creating folders for important messages can keep them from getting lost in a sea of e-mails. It can also make it easier for you to find these messages when you need them. There are many useful organizational tools on most e-mail platforms, including flagging the item, pinning it to the top of the page, or moving it into another folder. I create various folders for important messages. My folders include job applications and teaching ideas, among others.
3) Check E-mail Daily
Taking just 5 minutes each day to go through e-mails each day can make such a huge difference in dealing with unwanted digital clutter. Read through what you need to, save important ones to their designated folders, and delete the rest. You can actually get a lot done in 5 minutes. Why don't you set a timer and see?
4) Set Aside Time to Declutter Your Inbox
Even if it's just a few minutes a week, setting aside time to declutter past e-mails from your inbox is really helpful. You can slowly get through all of the digital clutter that has accumulated over time. Find a time you are available, write it down, set an alarm, and get to town on cleaning our your inbox. To make it more enjoyable, turn on your favorite show, movie, podcast, or music.
5) Unsubscribe
As you go through your e-mail, notice what you are deleting without reading. It may be time to unsubscribe. Almost all e-mails will have a link at the bottom to click in order to unsubscribe from future communication. Doing this will provide less items for you to look through and slow down incoming clutter. Since doing this, my e-mail account has been much more manageable. If you're unsure about completely unsubscribing, many businesses offer the option of less communication. You may choose to only receive one email per week, as opposed to daily messages.
6) Be Ruthless
If messages have been sitting in your inbox unopened for a few months, chances are you can delete them sight unseen. If you're not comfortable doing this, you can quickly scan each item for important information and delete any messages you don't need to reference again. If you think you may need it, you can add it to a designated folder. Just remember to be ruthless when cleaning our your inbox. Being afraid to delete items contributes to a cluttered inbox. When it comes to old e-mails, I resonate with Elsa's famous phrase, "Let it go!"
Happy Digital Decluttering!
<3 Sierra
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