Our Sponsor Sideshow Send us News
Lord of the Rings Tolkien
Search Tolkien
Lord of The RingsTheOneRing.net - Forged By And For Fans Of JRR Tolkien
Lord of The Rings Serving Middle-Earth Since The First Age

Lord of the Rings Movie News - J.R.R. Tolkien

  Main Index   Search Posts   Who's Online   Log in
The One Ring Forums: Off Topic: The Pollantir:
Do you clean out your e-mail inbox regularly?
Poll: Do you clean out your e-mail inbox regularly?
I never delete ANYTHING
I keep a lot of stuff for a long time, but eventually I delete stuff
I clean out my inbox at least once a year
I clean out my inbox every few months
I read it & delete it for most e-mails
View Results (41 votes)
 

Annael
Immortal


Aug 30 2014, 6:39pm

Post #1 of 16 (1407 views)
Shortcut
Do you clean out your e-mail inbox regularly? Can't Post

I was just talking to a friend who is upset because she lost 9,000 e-mails recently. I was boggled! I know people who don't get around to cleaning out their inboxes until there are 100s of e-mails in them, but thousands?

Made me wonder how often others clean out their e-mail inboxes. Me, I get rid of most e-mails within a few days to a month.


(This post was edited by Annael on Aug 30 2014, 6:40pm)


BlackFox
Half-elven


Aug 30 2014, 6:53pm

Post #2 of 16 (1270 views)
Shortcut
The last option // [In reply to] Can't Post

 


Kim
Valinor


Aug 30 2014, 7:58pm

Post #3 of 16 (1276 views)
Shortcut
Daily [In reply to] Can't Post

If I have more than 10 emails in my inbox, I start to get antsy, so I clear it out daily. I do however have sub-folders to save mail I want to keep for reference, and I do tend to save mail there that could probably be deleted eventually (and I do get to on occasion). The concept of having 9000 emails in my inbox just boggles my mind too.


Elizabeth
Half-elven


Aug 30 2014, 9:17pm

Post #4 of 16 (1264 views)
Shortcut
Intermediate (NOTA) [In reply to] Can't Post

I have a lot of topical sub-folders where I keep emails that I really need to keep. I always delete spam, and I try to unsubscribe to repeating solicitations that I have no interest in. I do leave messages that are part of current conversations or things I need to do something about, and they don't always get deleted. I occasionally do a partial purge. That said, since 2006 I have managed to accumulate 20,880 messages in my Inbox. Blush

I do Empty Trash every week or so, and have 169 messages there right now (3 days' worth), so I am cleaning up a little.


(This post was edited by Elizabeth on Aug 30 2014, 9:19pm)


Magpie
Immortal


Aug 30 2014, 10:13pm

Post #5 of 16 (1269 views)
Shortcut
gmail lets you archive instead of delete [In reply to] Can't Post

My inbox contains items that need attention. Either I want to (or have to) get back to someone on the matter or the email is a reminder I must (want to) do something.

Once I have acted on the matter, the email gets archived. I'm happiest when there are fewer than 15 emails in my inbox.

Archiving in gmail is simply simply sticking emails in 'the junk drawer'. You can apply labels that will let you retrieve all mail with that label. But archiving doesn't have to involve labels.

If I want to see all the mail I've gotten in the last month, I switch my view from 'inbox' to 'all mail'.

The only mail I delete is mail forwarded to me from work (I work part time so I have all mail routed to my home address so I can check it in the gmail interface) and mail with large attachments (it does count against the large but limited storage capacity of my account). Oh... I also delete distressing 'spats' that I've gotten into with people.

I could not abide a cluttered email inbox. My husband never archives anything and never checks his other tabs in gmail (they route mail to 'social' and 'promotional' tabs in some attempt to keep mail sorted ... you can suppress this if you choose). It drives me nuts to see his inbox.

I also don't like a full refrigerator because I always suspect some forgotten food is rotting away at the back of some shelf. I open a fridge that is mostly empty and I sigh with contentment.

weird, I know.

but I don't mind having pretty much every email ever sent to me since opening my gmail account 10 years ago. Fairly often, I go back to find what I wrote to my friend after I returned home from my sister-in-law's memorial service. Or when I told her about that dream when I discussed how memory was a form of time travel. We read Deathly Hallows and Children of Turin together and I can access the chapter by chapter discussions from those.

But all of this stuff is out of my inbox and into my archives. (my account says I have 12,965 emails... but that's really 'threads'. gmail groups all emails with the same subject line into a thread. Many of those threads have multiple emails in them so there are easily 3-5 times more emails than that number... but I have mail for 5 different email accounts routed to my main one. And I get regular messages from Netflix and a local theater)


Starling
Half-elven


Aug 31 2014, 5:24am

Post #6 of 16 (1252 views)
Shortcut
Every day [In reply to] Can't Post

I reply to it, delete it, or archive it according to where it fits. I also regularly empty the deleted items folder - I just did that and there were 183 in there, which is quite a lot for me.
Normally things are only in my inbox because I need to do something else before I can reply to them.
The only thing I hate more than too many emails in the inbox is a cluttered desktop. No one at work ever wants me to see the state of their desktop because they know I will go all judgey-pants.


Annael
Immortal


Aug 31 2014, 4:19pm

Post #7 of 16 (1245 views)
Shortcut
I use folders too [In reply to] Can't Post

I have an "Important to keep" folder that has information I may still need to access sometime in the future - even if I've got it somewhere else. In a way the Internet is a great storage place - can't burn down, even if you lose this computer you can still access the info out there. (I'm a fan of Dropbox too; my book chapters lived there, I was so paranoid about losing them.) I have another for "Family stuff," one for "Travel" (airline confirmations etc.), one for "Clients" . . . I don't like my inbox to get over one page long, so this helps me keep what I need to keep and still keep my inbox uncluttered.

My former boss not only has thousands of e-mails in his inbox, a lot of them are still not read. How can . . . .? That would make me nuts.


tolkiennerd
Lorien


Aug 31 2014, 5:53pm

Post #8 of 16 (1231 views)
Shortcut
I rarely if ever delete anything [In reply to] Can't Post

Just for fun when I saw this post I looked though my e-mails and I still have ones from 2006 in my inbox.


Kim
Valinor


Aug 31 2014, 6:34pm

Post #9 of 16 (1233 views)
Shortcut
So here is how my brain works [In reply to] Can't Post

Last night, I had a dream that my inbox started filling up with emails until it was out of control and at last count had reached over 2 million emails. However, I then realized that a modern day John Thornton was sitting next to me on his computer, thanks, I'm sure, to the fact that I watched North and South last night. Suddenly, I didn't really care about the emails. Wink


But yes, I have the same kind of folder system, and it makes me twitch to think of people with inboxes with thousands of mail, including ones they haven't even read. How do they function? Crazy


nandorin elf
Bree


Aug 31 2014, 8:29pm

Post #10 of 16 (1219 views)
Shortcut
read and delete [In reply to] Can't Post

I'm very organized, so I check my email daily and delete most stuff once I've read it. The exceptions are order confirmations (which get deleted once I get my stuff) and stuff I might need for proof later (like school grants). At least once a week I clean out the spam and trash folders too.
My mom and brother are the exact opposite; their inboxes usually have several hundred. But 9,000, wow, that's a lot of mail!


Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal


Aug 31 2014, 9:44pm

Post #11 of 16 (1232 views)
Shortcut
None of those quite fit me. [In reply to] Can't Post

With my e-mail account, I can automatically delete all the but the most recent of selected senders. I do that with daily news updates (like headlines from the local paper). I can also automatically send some senders to certain folders. I can "sweep", and delete all e-mail from a certain sender. I do those things for some senders, but for others, particularly family and friends, I pretty much keep them forever.

I also have pretty much all the snail mail ever sent to me from family and friends, going back 50 years. My mom saved all her dad's letters to her, which became a treasure when he died young. Us grandkids got to know him, even though he died before we were born. And then there are the love letters my great-grandfather wrote in 1901...


Bracegirdle
Valinor


Sep 1 2014, 9:28pm

Post #12 of 16 (1201 views)
Shortcut
Voted read & delete [In reply to] Can't Post

I delete the “junk” every day.
Then read & delete most everything else.
Then about once a week I delete the deleted folder – gone forever I guess.

I do like others though, I have separate sub-folders for mail or information received via email that I want to keep.

Isn’t having thousands of emails hanging around like red-lining your auto RPM whenever you drive. I’m not near a techy but it seems the easier you are on your computer the longer it will last? Like the easier you are on your car the longer it will last. (I know, today’s computers have 100s of gigabytes but . . .?)

But that’s just me.

Elizabeth, you said “ I try to unsubscribe to repeating solicitations that I have no interest in.” I think I have a pretty good virus, trojan etc. protection now, but in the past when I’ve clicked on an email link from someone I don’t know I have had problems. Now I never do – it’s delete time – one click and gone. Much easier than hanging up the phone on an unwanted solicitor. Mad


DaughterofLaketown
Gondor


Sep 1 2014, 9:55pm

Post #13 of 16 (1206 views)
Shortcut
I don't but I should [In reply to] Can't Post

I get distracted and forget to do it and put it off.Tongue I have 113 email right now!


Escapist
Gondor


Sep 1 2014, 10:33pm

Post #14 of 16 (1205 views)
Shortcut
I am one of those people [In reply to] Can't Post

evidence
paper trail
you never know when various detailed information comes in handy


Dwarewien
Rohan


Sep 1 2014, 11:04pm

Post #15 of 16 (1205 views)
Shortcut
Second option for me... [In reply to] Can't Post

since the only things I delete are information about movies (mostly through the Disney Movie Rewards site, since the only Disney movie I'm into at the moment is PotC, but even that's moved down a few notches since the Hobbit movies have come out) that I care nothing about, and once I receive something I ordered online, I delete the email they sent me notifying me that they received my order (but I keep the Pay Pal emails, so that I know what I spent my money on). Also, if I buy movie tickets online (like the first time I saw Into the Storm for example; just saw it again yesterday for the third time), I delete the email after I've already printed the ticket and seen the movie, since there's a good chance you can only use the ticket once (it's only good for that date and time), so it doesn't make much sense to keep it.Smile


Cirashala
Valinor


Sep 2 2014, 4:40am

Post #16 of 16 (1230 views)
Shortcut
you don't give the option for routinely delete anything unwanted [In reply to] Can't Post

not just junk mail, but I delete most things that aren't related to fan fiction or personal correspondence (or receipts/order numbers/tracking numbers for packages, etc). There have been times where I've had to go back and look at old emails, especially with parts and such (for instance, I had to replace the glass on my stove, which has since been discontinued in favor of an upgrade, and went back this morning to check that for a model number before pulling it out to check it manually- unfortunately I still ended up doing so, but it was worth a shot to look). Or if I'm following a fan fiction story and there's an email interruption or malfunction (or internet one- had that four times in the past four months and lost tabs on my browser), I can go to an older update link and bring the story back up, then just jump ahead to the next chapter. And I never delete online bill payment receipts/ebill related stuff.

So I delete junk mail, as well as many other emails after I've read them, every single time I get on the computer. I like to keep my inbox "unread message free" so that if I get a new email and it's important I will know right away (my email is always open on another tab so I can see new emails when I get them as soon as possible).

But as far as deleting read messages- I keep the ones I wish to keep, and delete the ones I don't. Could you add that as an option?

 
 

Search for (options) Powered by Gossamer Forum v.1.2.3

home | advertising | contact us | back to top | search news | join list | Content Rating

This site is maintained and updated by fans of The Lord of the Rings, and is in no way affiliated with Tolkien Enterprises or the Tolkien Estate. We in no way claim the artwork displayed to be our own. Copyrights and trademarks for the books, films, articles, and other promotional materials are held by their respective owners and their use is allowed under the fair use clause of the Copyright Law. Design and original photography however are copyright © 1999-2012 TheOneRing.net. Binary hosting provided by Nexcess.net

Do not follow this link, or your host will be blocked from this site. This is a spider trap.