Finally killed the 3,000 unread emails I've been avoiding for 2 years

I used to be one of those people who just let their inbox pile up and figured I'd deal with it later. After a few years, my work email had over 3,000 unread messages and I was scared to even open the app. Tried a few clean up tools before but they always wanted my login info which felt sketchy. Finally just set a timer for 15 minutes each morning and started hitting delete on anything older than 6 months. Took about 3 weeks but I got down to zero yesterday and felt kinda stupid for not doing it sooner. The funny part is I only actually needed to read maybe 20 of those old messages. Has anyone else found that most of your old emails are just junk you never needed anyway?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_holly23d ago

Is it just me or does this apply to like everything in life lol. I keep old receipts in my wallet for years and when I finally clean them out I find maybe two that actually mattered. Same with random phone apps and bookmarks I swear I'll use someday. The 20 emails you needed is the perfect example of how we overestimate how much old stuff we actually rely on. It's honestly kind of freeing to realize most of it is just noise.

elliot_johnson3123d ago

Old bookmarks are actually kind of interesting though. I cleared out my browser bookmarks last month and found one from 2014 for a recipe I never tried. But then I also found a link to a forum thread that helped me fix my car back then, and I totally forgot about it until I saw it again. Maybe it's just me but sometimes the old stuff can remind you of things you already figured out once.

paul28617d ago

Why do we hold onto stuff that's basically just digital clutter for years?