Are you making progress on your e-mail account? If you have way too many e-mails to weed through, you may just need to pick a date (i.e. February 1) from which to start. Then delete all e-mail prior to that date. You can then start fresh and work to stay on top of current messages.
In working through my e-mails each week, I am sharing how I work to keep my inbox clutter-free by following 4 steps. In case you missed the first two, you may read them by clicking the following links: STEP 1 and STEP 2. Today, I will cover Step 3: Identifying and Deleting Spam.
STEP 3:
Identifying and Deleting Spam.
1. As I scan through the remaining e-mails in my inbox, I look for names of senders that I don’t know.
2. I then look at the subject line. I notice the information listed (i.e. lottery winner, politics, employment, prescriptions, “free items with participation,” etc.).
3. If the e-mail subject line contains information that I will not even consider reading or researching, then I mark it. I click on the little box to the left of the message.
4. I continue to scroll through my e-mails marking all items from which I never want to receive e-mail messages again.
5. I then locate the SPAM button on the Title bar of my e-mail program. In Yahoo!, the button is identified as SPAM between the FORWARD and MOVE buttons. In Gmail (Google), the button reads REPORT SPAM between the ARCHIVE and DELETE buttons.
6. When I press the SPAM button, all those unwanted e-mails get sent to my SPAM folder. When I get more messages from those senders, my account will automatically send those messages to the SPAM folder. This action will help keep your inbox spam-free.
7. I will then delete my SPAM folder in Yahoo!. In Gmail, the spam is automatically deleted.
By the time I have deleted unneeded items (step 1), unsubscribed to sales and newsletters (step 2), and identified and deleted spam (step 3), I should have the messages I would like to read remaining in my inbox. Next week, I will conclude this series on keeping your inbox clutter-free.