Avoid Email Overload by Simply Ignoring Some (Unimportant) Emails
A Zero Mailbox is a noble, albeit difficult, goal. If you only receive a few emails a day, traditional strategies such as responding only a couple of times a day are fine. But if you get tens or hundreds, you need a tougher strategy: just ignore some of them.
As writer Oliver Berkman points out, information overload becomes most difficult with email, since email doesn’t really have a specific social purpose. While a stranger offering you something on Facebook might seem rude or unwelcome, email is considered relatively public. In other words, retailers and political parties are unlikely to spam your Facebook account a dozen times a day, but the season is open for email. If you start to get nervous, instead of taking the time to respond to every email, just ignore some of the ones that don’t matter.
I cling to the idea that email is different: this is the default, that every message sent to me or me deserves a reply. In practice, of course, there are countless emails that I don’t reply to: thousands of spam messages that I don’t even see; hundreds of impersonal advertisements and PR emails that I ignore; plus, I admit, a few personal messages that seem too difficult to communicate.
Of course, it’s ideal to read part of every email. If it comes from someone you know personally or professionally, at least one answer that sets expectations is expected politeness. But beyond that, don’t feel guilty about not responding to a dozen random offers from unknown companies or carefully categorizing retail newsletters that you never intend to deal with. Treat your email like a to-do list and be aware of what tasks are simply not worth completing.
Sit back, relax and ignore your inbox. Nobody Expects You to Read All of This | The keeper