This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2024 the theme is a personal retrospective that I call "I Coulda Been" which is in reference to my job and career arc over my lifetime. I'll be looking at all sorts of occupations that I have done or could have done. Maybe you've done some of these too!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Blog Boggled: Sorting the Email

             In my post of last Tuesday, the picture showed my email box at 1825 new emails.  When the post actually appeared on Tuesday, the count was hovering in the plus 1900 range while my daughters were visiting and I was not attending to my mail as much as normal.  Now that everyone has left, I spent a few days attacking my mailbox and as of this writing I am at 1150 and working downward.

            I have deleted many emails, but taking the advice of many of you, most of the removed emails have merely been subcatagorized into files which I will tackle later after I have gotten my new mail folder into a more manageable state.  The 1150 remaining "new" emails will continue to be either deleted immediately or placed into other files to be dealt with later.  The files that I have started with are mostly what I would deem of a "professional" nature having to do with writing, blogging, or other interests.  They are shown in the picture below:



          In today's post I am going to break down each of these files for you the reader.  Perhaps you will be familiar with some of these and give me your experience with them and how valuable they are to you.  Some of the sites may be new to you and something you will find valuable for your own use.  They are all sites that I have found to be interesting, but have for the most part saved most of the posts for future reading.  The problem now is that there are so many emails that I wonder if they are worth going back to.  Here are the "professional" sites I have relegated to individual files:

Writer's Digest  -- This site is affiliated with my subscription to the magazine of the same name.  I get regular emails from them with some links to articles that are sometimes interesting. They may be the same articles that are in the magazine.  The biggest problem is that I've been getting this magazine for several years, but I usually don't read it.  Likewise, I usually don't read the emails.  They do regularly send specials for books they publish and sometimes I order those.  Maybe someday I'll read those books.  Writer's Digest also sponsors several writing contests throughout the year that look like they could be good.  Do any of you subscribe to Writer's Digest?   Do you get the emails?  Have you entered any of their contests?  Ordered any of their books?   Anything you'd like to comment on about Writer's Digest?

Genreality -- I'm not sure how I heard about this blog but I've been subscribed to it for nearly as long as I've been actively blogging.  It is a blog for writers and it often has some interesting posts.  However, I have not read many of them and have been saving most of them unread since last November.  If any of you also subscribe to this one, do you find it very useful?   Is there anything you can tell us about this blog?

Funny Things -- This is a generic file that I've started for jokes and other humor.  This consists mostly of emails that friends and relatives have sent to me.   I'm sure you get many of these types of emails.  I usually just delete after reading, but there have been some that I decided to save just in case I wanted to use them later.  I'll probably find many others in my "new email" file that will get transferred here and ultimately I will probably delete most or all of them.

Pro Blogger Blog Tips ---  Here's another site that I don't know how I found it, but I can probably thank one of you for leading me to this one.  It is of course a site about blogging--how to make your blog better, how to make money at blogging, and so on.   The articles they send look very interesting and very helpful.  The site is one of those you could probably spend hours on, but they would probably be hours well spent.  I will probably peruse all of these saved articles and explore the site in the future.  Have any of you used this site at all?   Has it helped you?

Opening Bell -- This is a newsletter for teachers sent out by the National Education Association.  I'm not a teacher, but my wife is.   She was getting these newsletters but didn't really care about them.  I redirected them to my address.  They sometimes have some interesting articles about the U.S. education system and I have on occasion referred to some of them for blog stories.  And I just like to read about the subject.  I have probably read and deleted more of these than anything I receive, but I have still saved a hundred or so unread.   Any teachers out there who receive this newsletter?   Do you find any value in it?

Allmusic New Release Newsletter --  You already may be aware that I am a big music lover.  I found out about this site on a music discussion group.  I was checking it out regularly before my active blogging began.  Now I sometimes just save it for later.  Periodically they send this newsletter about new CD releases.  Not that I buy that many CDs these days, but I learn about new artists and re-releases of favorite old albums that maybe I'll want to get someday.  This site is merely an indulgence of one of my hobbies.   Anyone get these newsletters or use the Allmusic site?

         Those are the sites I've sorted out so far.  Now I've got many more emails to continue to sort through and delete or put into files.   I have started to make a dent in this and I am getting it organized.  I'll keep you updated.   Please continue to give me your thoughts and helpful suggestions.

17 comments:

  1. Goodness!! That's a lot of mail.

    My advice? Delete it.

    I'd never get through all that - or want to. I'd filter out the personal stuff and 'toss' everything else.

    :-)

    - Corra

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my goodness Arlee! I don't get that much email. I do sort my emails from my friends. I put them in their own file. There is a lot that I just delete as I am just not interested and I never open one with an attached file unless I know who it's from. That's a lot of emails my friend! Love Di ♥

    ReplyDelete
  3. Arlee, if you didn't read those articles by now you probably won't and the info will show up on one or more of the blogs you follow regularly SO DITCH THEM. Unsubscribe.
    My man, you'll go blind trying to read all that!

    Giggles and Guns

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, my. I thought I was in for an overwhelming task when I got back from vacation to find 88 new messages in my inbox. Turns out you're waaaaaaaay out of my league!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm afraid if I saw that many emails, I'd turn it off and never turn it back on again! Yikes!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I would freak out if that was my email folder. I think I agree with Corra, delete it all.

    CD

    ReplyDelete
  7. My rule of thumb 2 months old and out it goes. But then I hate clutter not that anyone can tell.

    I use ProBlogger but I do not subscribe. I use bookmarks and search for what I want. Yes, the site could take hours.

    Sounds like you are heading in the right direction. :D
    Trying To Get Over The Rainbow

    ReplyDelete
  8. How about a file for people keen to take Grannies Air Baths?

    You are getting organised Lee. Keep it up.

    Yvonne.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'd never get through it either. Then again, I don't get that much email. What I don't read within a day gets deleted.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My email folders are:

    Bills to be Paid
    1-800-Pet Meds
    AMF (American Missionary Fellowship)
    AT & T
    Atkinson - (My Pastor)
    Automobile
    Avast - (Virus Program-emails/specials)
    Blog Info
    Book Orders
    Book Publishers
    Book Sneeze
    Central Point Christian Fellowship
    Cesar Milan
    Desiring God
    Family & Friends Emails
    Frontier Airlines
    Job Responses (Still unemployed)

    And a few more for videos forwarded to me, the publishers I blog for books for, and some for each of emags I subscribe to.

    Maybe some of these folders will help you break it down for you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Arlee .. I most delete & junk stuff as I go .. though the inbox (read) does need a clear out & I keep important info - theoretically til it goes the way of all worlds!

    Glad you're getting sorted again .. and decluttering somewhat .. Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  12. Corra -- Deleting is the plan, but I do need to filter a few things that need to be saved. But I've been deleting a bunch.

    Diana -- Keep in mind this accumulation represents a couple of years of email laxity complicated by email bombardment after I started blogging and job searching. When I was working I never got this many emails and many of them were on my work email and related to work.

    Mary -- I've already unsubcribed to several things that seemed utterly useless. I still want to check into the value of the ones of filing and I just need to read them when they come in and then delete. Some people seem to read a lot of stuff. Maybe I need to reassess what I am reading now.

    CC -- I still remember when I was around 88 and thought it was a lot. Even in spring of 2009 I was under 100, but I let it get out of control.

    CD -- I could delete it all I guess but there are some things I'd like to keep. It's kind of like keeping the hard copy stuff I keep in drawers and closets. I could dump it all and maybe I will one day.

    Jules -- I am getting organized. The 2 month rule is a good one and I do use that for a lot of my emails.

    Yvonne -- If I had a "Grannies Air Bath" file then people would really think I was weird. I am working on organizing--have been for nearly 60 years.

    Alex -- I always try to delete immediately. Times away from the computer get me behind. I still think you're going to start getting a lot of emails once the book comes out.

    Gregg -- looks like you're doing it similar to the way I've started to do. I just should have started the filing system a year ago and I probably wouldn't be in this mess.

    Hilary -- Be careful not to let yours go as far as mine has. But I am working on getting back to where I was a year ago.

    ReplyDelete
  13. hooray for the cleaning time!!! :) Keeping my fingers crossed that you won't catch some virus which would erase them all in one move :)))

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ouch-if you mentioned 1,900 last week I read past it.

    The delete key is your friend!

    Larry

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow. I thought I got a lot of email. I've got about 300 emails sitting in my inbox right now. Every once in awhile I get on an organizing kick and start sorting them into folders. But then it piles up again.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dezmond -- A virus like that would be like some kind of divine message telling me I don't need any of these emails.

    Larry -- Since last I've gone down to less than 900 in my new mail box. Granted a lot are now in files, but at least they're organized.

    Karen -- Sounds like the story of my life.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I only have a few hundred emails in each of my accounts, but I have three different email addresses that I use for different purposes. I don't know if that's better or worse than having over a thousand in one! It is important to go back regularly and delete or save to a file or it does get out of hand. It's especially hard to catch up after being away a long time. Sounds like you are making good efforts to organize yours, Lee.

    ReplyDelete

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