Unread emails and folders both give me massive anxiety. My work inbox is at 0 when I leave the office every single day! And my personal Gmail is at 20 this morning, which is already stressing me out for a Monday morning so I’ll get it to 0 by noon.
I used to folder the crap out of everything, but like you I could never remember what folder to look in. So I scrapped those folders and just created a single folder for each year. I can almost always remember the year (and often month) of an email I might need to look back at, so I can skip doing a search of every email ever, and go to that annual folder first. If I can’t find it, then I’ll search my whole email. I’ve only had a handful of times since I started this in 2018 where I couldn’t find the email within 1-2 minutes, so it seems to be working for me thankfully.
I also set up a separate Gmail address for junk mail like one-time coupon codes. It helps A TON to keep my main inbox clutter-free. I still get auto-enrolled for some stores where I have loyalty/rewards programs or buy from frequently, but if I start to see too many of them in a week I unsubscribe as they roll in. I also make it a point to uncheck the “sign me up for emails” any time it gives me the option when I register somewhere, so I don’t have to unsubscribe later.
If having another inbox for junk gives you more anxiety because you know it’ll be more to manage, Gmail also allows you add “+XYZ” to the end of your email address and those emails will still come through. Then you can create a filter for things with that adder on the end and send them straight to trash after you get your coupon code. For instance janedoe123+coupons@gmail.com will still come into janedoe123 inbox, but now you can have anything addressed to +coupons filtered out to your trash bin. You can see the one-time code come in, use it, then any future emails will only be seen if you dig through your trash folder.
These tips are so smart. I also have a "throwaway" email for shopping, hotels, etc. so my work in-box remains uncluttered. I love the "adding -123" to the email address trick! I didn't know about that one, and I might have to implement it. Thanks Charley!
I should also mention, I have ADHD and one of my struggles has always been the fine line between perfectionism and chaos. Even now that I’m medicated for it (which only happened 2 years ago), I find that the coping mechanisms I used for 31 years are still very helpful. My email used to be chaos because I couldn’t figure out the perfect way to systemize it, or I would get over-organized by putting all my perfect systems in place but then I couldn’t keep up with those systems a week later. So I had to find that middle balance, where I still have a few folders (yearly ones) that make me feel like I have some sort of organizational system, but they’re brilliantly uncomplicated to keep up with so I don’t devolve into utter chaos.
10686. In one email, 1204 In another, 233 in yet another. All unread. Hundreds of emails arrive every day. I don’t have time to read or even just delete them all
30,808. And that's my Gmail INBOX. I don't dare tell you how many I have in my Promotions and Updates subfolders. Email is one of my biggest stressors. I'm so afraid I'm going to delete that one email I need. Ridiculous, I know. I'm also afraid I'm going to delete something related to my son that has sentimental value; I have newsletters from his preschool. And he's 17 now.
Wow. I didn’t even know I needed this. The archive thing is absolute gold. I don’t have that many emails because I am delete-happy but it happens pretty often where I have needed an email later that I was sick of looking at and deleted. Thank you again Melissa!
Ok, my number is 12,891 - which is INSANE. And every time I look at it I start to sweat because how do you even start? THANK YOU. I am excited to sign up just so I can get to zero!! And btw - I have become much more intense about unsubscribing, but does anyone else notice that some emails just keep coming regardless? It's maddening!
Some companies are like "it may take several weeks to remove you from our list" and I'm like WHY??? Because we can do it immediately. Good luck with Superhuman! Keep me posted!
I signed up for UnrollMe a bunch of years ago. I used to scan the digest email they send, but I don’t even do that now. I graduated to the Main/Promotions/Social tabs of Gmail, and glance at social (since it’s LinkedIn alerts) and once a week scan Promotions to make sure nothing important ended up there, then delete all. I’m actually at capacity for Gmail, so it would probably help me to actually delete some mail. And yes, I have folders for EVERYTHING. Aunt Barb’s 60th birthday party from 11 years ago - there’s folder for that! Gram’s 75th birthday party from 10 years ago? (Also, she’s DEAD!) - there’s a folder for that. My sister’s bridal shower from 14 years ago? FOLDER! My mom’s retirement party? FOLDER! Can you tell I’m the event planner of the family??? Gmail doesn’t get to me.
My work inbox, I used to whittle down to 30 emails I needed to come back to later. Over the last 6 months, I’ve stopped caring entirely. And after your message about archiving a few weeks ago, I stopped trying to file in project specific folders and just started throwing emails into company specific folders (since we have 6 of them now!). And now, I’ve even stopped doing that. I just don’t care. I have 25 days of employment left. Whomever survives can certainly find what they need.
I think what I need to do is unsubscribe from UnrollMe and just use the tabs that gmail provides.
Hahahaha at this point with your unemployment pending, that's for sure not your problem. But maybe you'll take some of these strategies into your next role. Or maybe that number just doesn't stress you out, in which case DO WHAT YOU LIKE. :)
Oh, I’m up to nearly 3,000 in my work inbox. I leave them unread, then once a week go in, scan to make sure I didn’t miss anything directed at me, then select them all and Mark as Read.
Melissa, you have once again stepped right into my head, and figured out what I need!! 😂 I haven't even read your post yet, but judging only by the comments, I already know this is going to be something I need! I start and stop so many different organization systems, it becomes very frustrating and disheartening. I'm also conscious of my excitement when starting new things, so building in checkpoints along the way is going to have to be part of this too. Anyway, I guess I should read your post now!😂😂
Listen, Tiff, I despise organizational systems. My whole teams knows it's a monumental effort to get me to buy into Notion or whatever system people are using for a project. But I have LOVED Superhuman! It's so easy! It's so efficient! Their customer service is great! It's been a dream. Keep me posted!
Ha ha my inbox number is 470,307! I don’t archive; I just leave all the messages in my Gmail Inbox. Haven’t felt a compulsion to “get to zero” in many years!
208,908 in all of my inboxes combined in the iPhone mail app 😳 I lost control when my daughter was born (4 years ago haha) and never got caught up so I’ve had to just mentally let it go because I was so overwhelmed. This sounds super appealing!! Do they have any features that allow you to unsubscribe to multiple retail emails at once? That’s my biggest issue! I give a website or store my email for the 15% off code and then they stalk me for the rest of my life! I have also accidentally signed up for emails I want (like Whole 30 or Danielle Walkers newsletter) from multiple different email accounts I have, so I get double and triple of the same email. Do you know if there’s a feature that identifies this and can unsubscribe on all but one, or at least just show you it’s happening?
I make a point to unsubscribe to something I’m not using or benefitting from as soon as an email hits my inbox. If I’m not going to shop there again for a while, unsubscribe. If I used the coupon code once and now I’m done, unsubscribe. If I noticed the same email popping up in my work and personal email, unsubscribe.
Create a new email just for those coupon codes. Start now. Then mass-unsubscribe to every single one you already have. Sign up again (one time) for the ones you actually want in your main email. I think unroll.me still works and is still free - you can put in your email address and it will pull up a list of all the emails you’re subscribed to and you can do a mass-unsubscribe from there.
Thankfully I can’t actually see a number. My unread items are only 26 this morning though. I’m SUCH a folder person 🫣 so many folders and subfolders, and I maybe use one of them. I am going to sing your praises forever for recommending the Archive folder. I’m still recovering my email sanity after getting back from maternity leave (7 months later) and having someone sub for me who didn’t use my folder system at all. Now I can just select all and move them out of sight!
I also used to be a HUGE folder person. I still have folders from an event I did in 2010 with a gym I have not stayed in touch with containing emails with details that do not matter. I haven't gone so far as to clean up my folders yet, but "Done" in Superhuman is a DREAM.
Today’s inbox number is 11,326. I delete 300-500 a week but it never comes down. I have stuff I need threaded in there between mountains of junk so it’s hard to hit a select all feature but I’ll give some of these tips a shot.
It felt SUPER scary to me to move things to "done" all at once... but I wasn't working on those emails anyway. They were already gone and forgotten. And the sense of relief when I moved them all over... EPIC. :)
Gmail does have something like this - the snooze feature. And it's great when I remember to use it!
It just took me a hot minute to even find it. :) I love the keyboard shortcuts with Superhuman--it lets me just FLY through my inbox.
Does Superhuman work across multiple gmail addresses? Like my personal ones and my work gmail while keeping them separate?
Unread emails and folders both give me massive anxiety. My work inbox is at 0 when I leave the office every single day! And my personal Gmail is at 20 this morning, which is already stressing me out for a Monday morning so I’ll get it to 0 by noon.
I used to folder the crap out of everything, but like you I could never remember what folder to look in. So I scrapped those folders and just created a single folder for each year. I can almost always remember the year (and often month) of an email I might need to look back at, so I can skip doing a search of every email ever, and go to that annual folder first. If I can’t find it, then I’ll search my whole email. I’ve only had a handful of times since I started this in 2018 where I couldn’t find the email within 1-2 minutes, so it seems to be working for me thankfully.
I also set up a separate Gmail address for junk mail like one-time coupon codes. It helps A TON to keep my main inbox clutter-free. I still get auto-enrolled for some stores where I have loyalty/rewards programs or buy from frequently, but if I start to see too many of them in a week I unsubscribe as they roll in. I also make it a point to uncheck the “sign me up for emails” any time it gives me the option when I register somewhere, so I don’t have to unsubscribe later.
If having another inbox for junk gives you more anxiety because you know it’ll be more to manage, Gmail also allows you add “+XYZ” to the end of your email address and those emails will still come through. Then you can create a filter for things with that adder on the end and send them straight to trash after you get your coupon code. For instance janedoe123+coupons@gmail.com will still come into janedoe123 inbox, but now you can have anything addressed to +coupons filtered out to your trash bin. You can see the one-time code come in, use it, then any future emails will only be seen if you dig through your trash folder.
These tips are so smart. I also have a "throwaway" email for shopping, hotels, etc. so my work in-box remains uncluttered. I love the "adding -123" to the email address trick! I didn't know about that one, and I might have to implement it. Thanks Charley!
I should also mention, I have ADHD and one of my struggles has always been the fine line between perfectionism and chaos. Even now that I’m medicated for it (which only happened 2 years ago), I find that the coping mechanisms I used for 31 years are still very helpful. My email used to be chaos because I couldn’t figure out the perfect way to systemize it, or I would get over-organized by putting all my perfect systems in place but then I couldn’t keep up with those systems a week later. So I had to find that middle balance, where I still have a few folders (yearly ones) that make me feel like I have some sort of organizational system, but they’re brilliantly uncomplicated to keep up with so I don’t devolve into utter chaos.
10686. In one email, 1204 In another, 233 in yet another. All unread. Hundreds of emails arrive every day. I don’t have time to read or even just delete them all
What if you just... archived all of them older than this week and started over? :) I GET the stress!
30,808. And that's my Gmail INBOX. I don't dare tell you how many I have in my Promotions and Updates subfolders. Email is one of my biggest stressors. I'm so afraid I'm going to delete that one email I need. Ridiculous, I know. I'm also afraid I'm going to delete something related to my son that has sentimental value; I have newsletters from his preschool. And he's 17 now.
Wow. I didn’t even know I needed this. The archive thing is absolute gold. I don’t have that many emails because I am delete-happy but it happens pretty often where I have needed an email later that I was sick of looking at and deleted. Thank you again Melissa!
Happy to help!
I have 18,789 I am going straight to Superhuman
You will LOVE IT. LMK if you have questions, but their customer service is top-notch!
Ok, my number is 12,891 - which is INSANE. And every time I look at it I start to sweat because how do you even start? THANK YOU. I am excited to sign up just so I can get to zero!! And btw - I have become much more intense about unsubscribing, but does anyone else notice that some emails just keep coming regardless? It's maddening!
Some companies are like "it may take several weeks to remove you from our list" and I'm like WHY??? Because we can do it immediately. Good luck with Superhuman! Keep me posted!
I signed up for UnrollMe a bunch of years ago. I used to scan the digest email they send, but I don’t even do that now. I graduated to the Main/Promotions/Social tabs of Gmail, and glance at social (since it’s LinkedIn alerts) and once a week scan Promotions to make sure nothing important ended up there, then delete all. I’m actually at capacity for Gmail, so it would probably help me to actually delete some mail. And yes, I have folders for EVERYTHING. Aunt Barb’s 60th birthday party from 11 years ago - there’s folder for that! Gram’s 75th birthday party from 10 years ago? (Also, she’s DEAD!) - there’s a folder for that. My sister’s bridal shower from 14 years ago? FOLDER! My mom’s retirement party? FOLDER! Can you tell I’m the event planner of the family??? Gmail doesn’t get to me.
My work inbox, I used to whittle down to 30 emails I needed to come back to later. Over the last 6 months, I’ve stopped caring entirely. And after your message about archiving a few weeks ago, I stopped trying to file in project specific folders and just started throwing emails into company specific folders (since we have 6 of them now!). And now, I’ve even stopped doing that. I just don’t care. I have 25 days of employment left. Whomever survives can certainly find what they need.
I think what I need to do is unsubscribe from UnrollMe and just use the tabs that gmail provides.
Hahahaha at this point with your unemployment pending, that's for sure not your problem. But maybe you'll take some of these strategies into your next role. Or maybe that number just doesn't stress you out, in which case DO WHAT YOU LIKE. :)
Oh, I’m up to nearly 3,000 in my work inbox. I leave them unread, then once a week go in, scan to make sure I didn’t miss anything directed at me, then select them all and Mark as Read.
Melissa, you have once again stepped right into my head, and figured out what I need!! 😂 I haven't even read your post yet, but judging only by the comments, I already know this is going to be something I need! I start and stop so many different organization systems, it becomes very frustrating and disheartening. I'm also conscious of my excitement when starting new things, so building in checkpoints along the way is going to have to be part of this too. Anyway, I guess I should read your post now!😂😂
Listen, Tiff, I despise organizational systems. My whole teams knows it's a monumental effort to get me to buy into Notion or whatever system people are using for a project. But I have LOVED Superhuman! It's so easy! It's so efficient! Their customer service is great! It's been a dream. Keep me posted!
Ha ha my inbox number is 470,307! I don’t archive; I just leave all the messages in my Gmail Inbox. Haven’t felt a compulsion to “get to zero” in many years!
I cannot even. But like, good for you! This level of unbothered is next-level!
Probably due to my superior powers of “avoidance” - avoiding difficult or painful things / emotions / people - rather than truly “not caring” 🤓
I. WOULD. DIE. 😳
208,908 in all of my inboxes combined in the iPhone mail app 😳 I lost control when my daughter was born (4 years ago haha) and never got caught up so I’ve had to just mentally let it go because I was so overwhelmed. This sounds super appealing!! Do they have any features that allow you to unsubscribe to multiple retail emails at once? That’s my biggest issue! I give a website or store my email for the 15% off code and then they stalk me for the rest of my life! I have also accidentally signed up for emails I want (like Whole 30 or Danielle Walkers newsletter) from multiple different email accounts I have, so I get double and triple of the same email. Do you know if there’s a feature that identifies this and can unsubscribe on all but one, or at least just show you it’s happening?
Here are suggestions for unsubscribing. Be cautious with services like Unroll--read their privacy policies! https://blog.superhuman.com/manage-your-email-subscriptions/
I make a point to unsubscribe to something I’m not using or benefitting from as soon as an email hits my inbox. If I’m not going to shop there again for a while, unsubscribe. If I used the coupon code once and now I’m done, unsubscribe. If I noticed the same email popping up in my work and personal email, unsubscribe.
For sure always check privacy policies for any third-party email apps!
Create a new email just for those coupon codes. Start now. Then mass-unsubscribe to every single one you already have. Sign up again (one time) for the ones you actually want in your main email. I think unroll.me still works and is still free - you can put in your email address and it will pull up a list of all the emails you’re subscribed to and you can do a mass-unsubscribe from there.
Thankfully I can’t actually see a number. My unread items are only 26 this morning though. I’m SUCH a folder person 🫣 so many folders and subfolders, and I maybe use one of them. I am going to sing your praises forever for recommending the Archive folder. I’m still recovering my email sanity after getting back from maternity leave (7 months later) and having someone sub for me who didn’t use my folder system at all. Now I can just select all and move them out of sight!
I also used to be a HUGE folder person. I still have folders from an event I did in 2010 with a gym I have not stayed in touch with containing emails with details that do not matter. I haven't gone so far as to clean up my folders yet, but "Done" in Superhuman is a DREAM.
I knew we were friends for a reason. Keep it in a folder. YOU NEVER KNOW. 😂
Today’s inbox number is 11,326. I delete 300-500 a week but it never comes down. I have stuff I need threaded in there between mountains of junk so it’s hard to hit a select all feature but I’ll give some of these tips a shot.
It felt SUPER scary to me to move things to "done" all at once... but I wasn't working on those emails anyway. They were already gone and forgotten. And the sense of relief when I moved them all over... EPIC. :)