Saturday 5 January 2013

The Year of Less - Emails

 
Over the course of the next few weeks and months I will be doing a series of posts following our progress with our 'Year of Less'.  We really hope to simplify so much of our lives, little things, big things it all adds up.  When you have a multitude of things to think about, look after and actually do, it takes up time both physically and mentally.
 
After being away for a couple of days over the Christmast period and getting back to a huge amount of emails I came to the very quick decision that cutting back on these would be one of the first things I would set my mind to.  Now don't get me wrong I love getting emails from friends and family and even from companies that I enjoy using that keep me up to date with their products.  But when my email address is sold onto every organisation that I may have a sliver of an interest in and I am being asked to fill in questionnaires and surveys which are obviously just going to lead to another trail of emails landing with a thud and a ping in my inbox well that's when it's time to call it a day.
 
Since last week when I have been opening my emails my first task has been to unsubscribe from as many companies as possible, some rather annoyingly state that 'this will take between 7-14 days to come into effect', why for goodness sake, well as they are now bombarding me with additional emails they obviously think they are going to turn themselves into my best friend before their deadline looms - WRONG - I hate you even more.  Other companies simply say 'thank you' and let me go happily on my email free way - thank you.
 
It really is working, instead of lots of emails to scan through and delete, I can just get down to reading what I want to read in the time I have to read it.  There are still a few unwanted ones slipping through but already they are getting thinner and thinner on the ground and when I open my Inbox I get to see emails names from people that I know and want to read.
 
It's a small step maybe but definitely one in the right direction.
 
Sue xx

9 comments:

  1. It is very frustrating I agree. I shall be unsubscribing from quite a few myself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you just do a couple a day as they pop up it is surprising how quickly they dwindle.

      Sue xx

      Delete
  2. I keep getting emails from a Pharmacy in Canada offering me to buy viagra, I have tried everything I can think of to get rid of these blasted emails, I can get up to 10 in a day. I cannot find anywhere on their site where I can butt out and an email asking them to take me off their list was ignored.

    Drives me nuts!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh I get these too, there's no way I can find of stopping them but at least they all land in my Spam box and I just give that the quickest of glances and then delelt the lot, but yes it drives me nuts too.

      Although I've suddenly realised that my 'friends' in Nigeria seem to have stopped informing me of my huge, hundreds of thousands of pounds inheritance that is just waiting to drop into my bank account the minute I send them all my details!!

      Sue xx

      Delete
  3. I've done the same, it feels like I'm de-cluttering yet another part of my life. I'm aiming for a simpler life like yourself and making a further effort to spend even less this year. I must say it makes me feel good.

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  4. I've got a separate account that I use for all the forms etc where you know full well that spam will follow. Thankfully this means that my personal account stays relatively spam free, and uncluttered.
    For those that say it will take x days to take effect, can you just mark their mail as "junk" so at least it just goes straight to that folder?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Drat - I didn't think of that, will do it now to the last few persistent offenders, thanks.

      Sue xx

      Delete
  5. This was one of the best things I've ever done - I also changed my main email address, which simplified things even further. Email clutter can be as draining as physical clutter.

    It's a good job done Sue x

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