One hour on a Sunday afternoon and I am now Inbox message free! I know, it’s not brain surgery but let me give you some hints that make it go faster and easier!
In full disclosure, I would not have taken on this task except for the storage warnings my webserver was sending me on a daily basis. 13,000+ emails in my InBox, what’s the problem? Anyway, apparently my web server frowns upon letting endless emails accumulate potentially into infinity. So, since purchasing more storage was not an option, I decided to tackle these warnings once and for all. The steps and shortcuts are as follows:
First, get comfy! I have my laptop, the television on March Madness basketball, and a bowl of starburst jelly beans on my end table.
Second, familiarize yourself with your Inbox list. In my case, clicking on the “from” will change my chronological list into one sorted by sender. Having spent time sorting by both date and working backwards from the front page and the last page, I can attest that sorting by sender is the best!
When you sort by sender you will also get a really clear picture of how many emails you are getting from a particular sender. For those senders that I clearly do not even open, I unsubscribed!
The other advantage to sorting by sender is how easily a name jumps out at you. It is a good way to catch an email that perhaps got buried in the InBox without a necessary response. (Two of those for me, with my sincere apologies for missing the email the first time around.)
Third, organize some folders. Be as general as you think you can be because if you are looking for a particular email, it is usually easy to “search” in most email programs. Important items to keep in folders include: conversations, receipts, contact information, confirmations etc….
Fourth, try to highlight as many emails as your system allows. In my case, clicking on the check mark highlights 100 messages. Once you determine they are “trashable” emails, do not put them in trash, click on “purge” if you have that option. Purging removes the email from your system rather than just filling your trash can which does not help your storage issues.
Last but not least, sit back and smile at your empty InBox, it feels good!