Inbox Zero

I achieved something beautiful today. I got my inbox down to zero.

Before anyone throws me a parade I should mention that this is mainly due to a great deal of moving things around. I have a "Deal with Me" folder and a "Read Me" folder and several other folders that the inbox gets sorted into. So I'm not necessarily dealing with the inbox, I'm just moving it around.

Of course there are those emails that everyone gets a day; things that we've signed up for that we don't really look at. I've for emails from Target and Ralphs, intending to be a smart shopper. The thought being that I could see the ads when they come in and plan my shopping accordingly. I could combine that with some of the recipes I get delivered everyday. You know how many times I've actually done it? Maybe twice. And those hundreds of recipes that sit on that folder? I think I've tried maybe four of them.

Then there are emails that I can't even remember signing up for. I somehow started getting emails form Angie's List. I really don't even remember signing up. I don't recall ever going to Angie's List. They sponsored NPR for a while, maybe they found out I listen fairly regularly. I unsubscribed from those emails and I still get them. I went to the website and deleted the account I guess I setup while I was sleepwalking. I still get the emails. I got so frustrated I called the number at the bottom. I talked to a lady who seemed to think the phrase "take me off your email list" was code for "continue to send me emails. I finally gave up and just accepted that I would need to delete them the moment they came through. Then they stopped. I don't know how, but I won't question it too hard.

There's a music store that I've never visited that frequently emails me. I think they got my name from a list of music conference attendees a few years ago. Their emails don't have an unsubscribe option. It's infuriating. I got excited one day when the subject line said something about a going out of business sale. I got excited because that meant the emails would stop. Then I got another email from them. Turns out they had two locations and just closed one.

I got to inbox zero yesterday. Today I woke up to nearly fifty of them. I'm giving up. I need an assistant just to handle my inbox. I may just start deleting everything en masse. So if you email me and never hear from me don't be surprised.