I use email as my primary contact point. It’s how people can best reach me, and its how I’ll contact people back. I think email is important and worth saving as a primary tool because no one owns it. It’s part of the original internet.
As people hopefully break free from some of the large social media sites, it’s the one thing that still connects all of us. That’s something worth saving.
My email box (gmail) sits happily at zero unread. I have it open as a tab in my browser as I type this. When the mood hits, I can check my email. Often there isn’t any. Even if there is, I may not deal with it immediately.
The main reason this is possible and doesn’t stress me out, is I’ve filtered all auomated email lists, or unsubscribe myself. All that’s left are human emails.
When I join an email list of a topic I’m interested in, I set up this filter:
-Skip Inbox
-Mark As Read
-Apply Label
That will put those emails away for me to peruse at my leisure when I feel like checking out out what that list has been up to lately. Maybe I check it frequently, maybe I check it every few months. But they don’t intrude on me. Adding “Mark as Read” means I’ve de-prioritized them, since in the end they are automated.
The other thing I do is unsubscribe myself (usually takes 1 click) from an email list that I was put on without asking (like if I bought something from them).
Worst-case, I create a new filter for those emails that:
-Skip inbox
-Delete
With those 2 filters being applied as needed, I’m left with just human correspondence, which I can manage easily.
Let’s keep email strong and have it work for you.
