At the end of the year I take inventory to:
Donate things that I know I will never use.
Discard things that are no longer useable or donatable.
Clean, Organize and Refresh the energy of the things I do want in my space.
Most of my personal belongings are stored in a 16' x 16' container. Despite the best intentions the most perfect home has not been acquired in our new location. Therefore we continue to live in a furnished rental property with perhaps 40% of our belongings.
This makes me a little antsy. This makes me a wee bit impatient as I know there are things in that container that meet the criteria above.
I decided this morning that in order to satisfy my need to purge, clean, organize and refresh my space I'd have to be creative.
Since I can not get into my boxes I would literally have to think outside of them! I went to my Inbox!
Email-Deleting the Archives
I started my day with a coffee and settled in to read my personal email.
Thanks to my smartphone I easily delete and discard emails on the fly, but what I noticed when I opened my account on my computer is that I had a total of 4181 read emails in my inbox.
That number stood out at me like a beacon. I've read or clicked on over four thousand emails and deemed them important enough to keep? Surely I must be joking...
So I started to investigate what I had been hoarding...
I navigated my way to the 4181st email and by only looking at the subject line I knew that I could let it go.
I worked backwards for a time, deleting 50 emails per page, simply by reading the subject line.
In no time I was down to 3404. Then 3,101, then 2794, 2660.
By the time I had finished my first cup of coffee I had deleted 1521 emails.
It could have been easy to get caught up in the reading and reminiscing of emails from some senders.
It could have been easy to create a folder named "Keepers", to sort and organize correspondence into.
The truth of the matter is that the content was no longer valid, no longer applicable, and no longer valuable.
It was simply taking up virtual space so I clicked "Delete".
Email-Shoulds
I do have a number of folders, and when I glanced through them I noticed that four of them contained, "I'll read when I have time" or "I should keep these and read them"
Some of those emails were over 4 years old, and again without clicking on them and getting caught up in consuming the content I decided that simply deleting them was me choosing to stop "shoulding" on myself.
Email-Click Unsubscribe
Having recently began my own email list for my website, I understand the value of list building. I can not aptly describe the thrill of receiving an email telling me that someone signed up to my list, trust me it is very exciting.
What I noticed in my inbox is that there were multiple stored emails I received from companies and people that I rarely if ever clicked on. Most of them were the giant corporations that incessantly send emails and frankly I never read them.
So I clicked the Unsubscribe, thanked them silently and deleted all of the ones I had never been opened.
What I have learned in the last few weeks of building that list is the importance of sharing content that people click on to read and engage. Having people who are not attracted to your content, offers or what you have to say, or like me delete without even clicking, is a disservice.
I can not aptly describe the moment of acceptance when I received emails informing me that someone had unsubscribed from my list.
[Note:I said acceptance]
I trust that when I sign up for email newsletters, offers or otherwise I do so when I attracted to the content; therefore when I have unsubscribed from a list I am doing so because that content is no longer of value to me, I am overwhelmed by the influx, or I am turned off by constant offers and no content. I get to choose who appears in my inbox.
When I received unsubscribes I accepted the fact that, like myself, they valued the content of what they had received however they were honest with themselves and me that it was not most perfect for them. Asking the question and trusting in the answer.
Email-Receipts of the past
I'm quite pleased that some companies are giving you the option to have your receipt or invoice emailed rather than a paper copy. I enjoy the print at home option for tickets as well.
The paper copy can fade in time, or smooshed from your pocket or bottom of your bag. A paper copy can be misplaced, misfiled or mislaid.
An email copy is very efficient and easily searchable or filed electronically.
In my 4181 emails, I was able to let go of well over 500 emailed receipts over the past few years.
Concert tickets I enjoyed.
Updates on events I had attended.
Purchases I made.
Delivery notifications.
There is an expiration date on holding onto purchase receipts, both literally and electronically. Especially when some online vendors keep that content in your account and keeping one in your inbox is simply duplication of the same.
Just like cleaning out your wallet, purse or file folder, discarding receipts of past purchases creates space in your inbox as well.
Email-Drafts
I had a couple dozen emails that I had started, never finished or may have gotten distracted, called away from or had simply changed my mind about composing.
I had a couple of emails that I had obviously decided it was in my best interest and that of the greater good, to write but not send.
The cathartic response to putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard to get things off of your chest is either reacting or responding to something.
Just as you were taught in school when writing an essay or report, it is best to get the content on paper, walk away or let it sit, then go back, review and edit.
Reacting is often your first draft.
Responding is letting your first draft sit, reviewing and editing the content with perspective.
Holding onto drafts hold thought energy, its like that niggling feeling like you forgot to do something.
Deleting emails that you had started and never finished, drafts that are well outdated are holding space and holding thoughts that may serve you better to let go of.
Going from 4181 to 2000
I do not fancy myself a hoarder, quite the contrary, so today when I managed to declutter nearly 2200 emails I was very pleased to how en-lightening it was to have created that much space in my inbox.
Things to note:
I did not get caught up in reviewing the content, rather I used the criteria of date (starting with year), subject line, and sender, as my guide to whether it held any value.
I was honest with myself about whether I would create the time to review the emails I had organized in folders. Letting go of the "should reads" literally made my shoulders relax.
Unsubscribing from lists from giant companies was easier. I consciously signed up for their list through purchases or necessity; I consciously unsubscribed from their list due to the quantity or lack of relevance.
Choosing to let go of emails from an entrepreneur or website was harder but equally valuable. When I searched the sender I noted how many emails I had engaged with, and how many I had "intended" or "shoulded on myself" to get back to. I did choose to delete past emails I hadn't read and will see if I'm inspired to carry on with them as new emails arrive.
Deleting Receipts felt like cleaning out my wallet or purse. It was easy and feels lighter just thinking about it.
Letting go of email drafts was also easy to do, knowing that they are no longer in virtual purgatory feels better overall.
Emails- Sent
As pleased as I was to have declutter my inbox by 50%; I was equally overwhelmed when I noted that my Sent folder held 4671 emails.
Using the date as my main criteria I downsized the sent emails to 3350 in a few clicks.
The knowing that I have let go of 3502 emails or 40% of the content I was holding in my email account is a great way to Create Space in my world!
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