MORE vs less: Decluttering While on Vacation

Day 7 – Invisible clutter is bothersome, too. But my email inbox is finally looking bare.

The past several days I’ve been on vacation and I’ve been able to keep up with my decluttering commitment. I wake up early – even on vacation – so I’ve spent a couple of hours decluttering my email inbox before anyone gets up.

My personal email account started with 6,000 emails. Isn’t that pathetic. BUT – it is now down to 48. Yes, you read that correctly, 48! Want to know my tips? Good because I want to share, even they are not anything out-of-the-ordinary.

Unsubscribe. I was on too many newsletter and retail lists. I unsubscribed to everything! E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G! I can always resubscribe. But, if I do, I am going to be more cautious about giving out my email address.
Delete all emails associated with those I unsubscribed from. So say I unsubbed from Fleet Feet, I then put “Fleet Feet” into the Search Box and hit enter. Then ALL emails from Fleet Feet would show up. I deleted ALL those emails. It was a QUICK way to delete 100’s and 100’s of emails.
Be ruthless in deleting. Delete! Delete! And then delete some more. If an email is a couple of years old, you probably don’t need it now.

The 48 emails that are left need attention. I am hoping to be down to Inbox ZERO by the end of the week.

Day 7 – 31 Minutes of Decluttering = I went from 6,000+ emails to 48 in two days. So I obviously spent more than 31 minutes at a go. But I found time that didn’t take away from anyone else … while folks were sleeping … while driving in the car … and while folks were taking a break from each other.

Go here for the landing page with all the posts for MORE vs less: 31 Days of Decluttering. #write31days . . . I am joining 100’s of bloggers who are determined to write every day in October on one topic. To read more about #Write31Days, go here.

Join me in this experiment of MORE vs less.

Your Turn . . . How is your email inbox? . . . Do you have your emails under control or are they a cluttered, chaotic, worry?

Related Posts . . . How Does One Person Have 624 Emails In Her Inbox? (2008)