I didn't get rid of a single pound of stuff.
But what I got rid of weighed far more than it's earthly weight might suggest.
Today I got rid of virtual clutter.
Like many people, I have found myself in a place where I have way too many email addresses. The old standby hotmail one from, well , years ago. The "junk" one that I use when I have to give someone an email and don't ever want to read anything from them. A random Yahoo one because, well, sometimes you need a Yahoo one. My work one. My blog one.
And between them all, I get more than 700 emails a day.
When people say to me, "I don't know how you do it all!" I have to confess. Email is one place I don't. It's a disorganized mess and I, therefore, mess it up all the time.
I was inspired by Jessica's Operation Unsubscribe to declutter my email. I knew it was time. Bills were getting lost in there. Friends were getting buried in between "stuff the bag" offers from far too many retailers. And I was just getting overwhelmed.
So I made myself sit down and do a massive unsubscribe effort. I opened my mail email box where I had 7,042 unread emails. Yes, you read that right.
As I went, I developed some rules for myself:
1. If I had more than a page of unopened emails that was a sign it was time to unsubscribe.
And wow did that happen a lot. I guess the point here is that, as much of a bargain online shopper as I am, I just don't have the capacity to care that companies are constantly offering 25% off select items. Or free shipping with a $49 purchase. And I certainly don't have the budget.
2. If I found a retailer that emailed me more than 3x a week, I unsubscribed.
And to all you retailers who fell in that camp, we love you, but I don't need daily emails. Really.
3. If it was something I never would want or use, I unsubscribed.
Teen Vogue, hmmm, maybe 18 years ago.
Prilosec? I have never had heartburn. Really. Why was I getting this?
GolfBalls.com? I don't golf. I have no idea how I ever got on that one.
A long ago (unsuccessful) presidential candidate. Bye bye.
Three separate toothpaste brand emails? How could one need to know that much about their toothpaste choices?
4. If I was subscribed to something in more than one account, I unsubscribed from the others.
Real Simple, I adore you. But somehow I was making things more complicated than simple by subscribing to your newsletter three times.
5. If I was receiving emails from a company or organization that I don't like to begin with, I unsubscribed.
One word: Ticketmaster.
6. It was time to change my Facebook settings.
Generally speaking, after I comment on something, I am pretty much done. I don't need to know what someone's cousin, coworker or contractor thinks about it, too. So I adjusted my settings to reduce the amount of Facebook update emails I get.
A few insights I'd like to share with people who have lists:
1. If someone clicks "Unsibscribe," that is really what they want to do. So don't open a new window where "No, I changed my mind, keep me subscribed" is checked. That makes me want to unsubscribe all the more.
2. Putting your "unsubscribe" link in teeny, tiny, light gray font is annoying. I get that you don't want to scream about it. But don't make me hunt for it either.
3. If I click on "unsubscribe" and it takes me to your main web page, then I get really annoyed. If I wanted to shop, I would have clicked on that link.
However, all of that aside, by the end of my virtual declutter, I did the following:
- Unsubscribed from a total of 260 email lists
- Deleted more than 6,800 emails
- Send eight strongly worded emails to major retailers whose "unsubscribe" links simply took me to the main page of their site.
- Found $20 in an Amazon.com gift card I had missed.
- Learned that Bing Cashback is closing at the end of July and that I needed to request my final $26.
If you are looking to get rid of virtual clutter like unwanted phone calls, emails and mail (okay, so that is real clutter) here are some good resources:
National Do Not Call Registry
Stop Unwanted Junk Mail
Great resource for getting rid of all kinds of email and mail-related junk
Do you have great tips for keeping virtual clutter manageable? Come share them in our community.
