I just checked my Gmail inbox and, despite periodic clean-ups, it currently has 224 items. My sent mail folder is even more glutted, with 569 items.\u00a0 These numbers bother me, and they make me wonder: have I become an e-hoarder?<\/p>\n
In the days of snail mail, a person might save a piece of correspondence here and there.\u00a0 Normal people would not save all of it.\u00a0 And no one (lawyers and businesses excepted) would save a copy of what they sent.\u00a0 So what has changed?<\/p>\n
Some email retention is justified, such as one’s upcoming hotel reservation or the most recent note from a friend that has not yet been answered.\u00a0 But these kind of emails are only a handful of the hundreds now in my inbox.<\/p>\n
In some cases, I have saved emails to compensate for my poor (or lazy) social memory.\u00a0 When friends share personal details with me, I don’t want to insult them — or embarrass myself — by forgetting what they said.\u00a0 It could be the names and ages of children and\/or grandchildren, or current health issues, or upcoming life events.\u00a0 I worry that, if I don’t keep a mental\/digital record of such items, I am disrespecting what has been shared.<\/p>\n
In other cases, I am hanging onto information that — as every hoarder says — might be useful someday.\u00a0 For instance, I once asked a friend about his experience with drum pads and drum software.\u00a0 His responses, still in my inbox (and still un-acted upon), are nearly four years old.\u00a0 This is the email equivalent of saving an AOL installation disk.<\/p>\n
I also get overly attached to attachments.\u00a0 The best way to ensure that I don’t erase your email to me is to attach something to it.\u00a0 When I do cull my inbox, I rarely touch an item with an attachment — it is usually too much trouble to open the attachment to see if it is something important, which by default it is.<\/p>\n
These are all habits that I have slipped into and can’t seem to break.\u00a0 I would love to know how others deal with email management, and how many items are currently in your inbox and sent box.\u00a0 This post will be a lot more interesting with some thoughts from readers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I just checked my Gmail inbox and, despite periodic clean-ups, it currently has 224 items. My sent mail folder is even more glutted, with 569 items.\u00a0 These numbers bother me, and they make me wonder: have I become an e-hoarder? … Continue reading