Digital decluttering has been
foremost on my mind. I don’t know how dozens of stray websites with daily offers of
stuff I do not need find their way to my email. Some, I had subscribed
to in my past life, in a not-so-deliberate act of my attachment to material therapy. But others, I do
not even know about. This month, I have actively taken time out to unsubscribe
myself from all the email lists that I am no longer interested in. I do not want to start my day virtually sweeping clean my mailbox.
I don’t remember the last time I bought
a book from Barnes & Noble, but they kept sending me offers. Amazon is notorious in sending me follow-up emails
if I even so much as look for a hairpin on their website. Hostelworld and easyJet still
keep sending me deals for Europe travel, although I have
left Europe long back. I once took a cruise ship from Germany to Norway, and
they still keep sending me deals in German (which makes it harder to find their
“unsubscribe” button). I will never figure out how I got to be on the email
list for Baby Gap, of all things. I had once actively subscribed to Seth Godin’s
blogs, but I have outgrown that content. In my previous life (meaning, many
years ago), I was subscribed to Bath & Body Works, but it is cheaper to buy
things at full price than get sucked into their bottomless abyss of “buy-3-get-3-free”
offers. Now, if I need to buy one, I just buy one, and not six of the same
kind. Seattle Public Library still keeps sending me emails, although I have been
gone from Seattle for 8 years now (completely my fault, I admit).
And then, there are newsletters from photo websites, offers to send people flowers in India (why on earth?), and travel deals to places I am never likely to visit, like Bora Bora.
And then, there are newsletters from photo websites, offers to send people flowers in India (why on earth?), and travel deals to places I am never likely to visit, like Bora Bora.
It may sound like a petty thing, but I do not want to start my day reading and deleting pointless emails. I have actively started unsubscribing to declutter. I no longer
provide my email id for future offers every time I buy something at Macy’s. Even
after weeks of decluttering, a stray offer email, just like a stray mosquito,
will buzz every now and then until I swat it away. But overall, I am done waking
up to soul-inspiring emails of sales and deals about things I do not need.
Have you uncluttered your mailbox lately? And what are you changing in your life in week one?
sunshine
Also read: 52 small changes
2 comments:
Have you tried unroll.me? I find it useful to run it once a month of so. Even so, there is so much of junk coming in!
Chikky, how awesome! I did not know about this one. Thank you. :)
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