My Email Un-subscription Diet

“OK!  Here I go!  It’s a New Year and I’m going on a diet!”

I can hear this phrase singing in my head every year.  “Cut back!  Loose extra weight!  Get trim to do more!”  This year, I’m doing something different.  The “weight” I want to loose this year is hanging around my email box not my middle (albeit, there’s plenty around my midriff that needs to be shed as well). For me, I wake up to over 60 new emails per day.  Of those 60 messages, 5 are important, 15 are urgent but not important, and a full 40 are from email lists, promotions and newsletters that I end up deleting.  Here is a sample of my “extra weight” email subscriptions that daily ping the sanity out of my schedule:

amazon – mint – leadership network – Christianity today – worldwide brands – rick warren – create space – apple – Microsoft office live – 48days – regular investing – Angie’s list – Barnes and Noble – Borders – Writers Digest – Writers University – Writers Edge – Wine is it….. (I could go on, but I’ll spare you the extra weight).

Here are some questions to ask as you go on your “email un-subscription” diet:

1.  Have I read this subscription within the last 3 months? If not, UNSUBSCRIBE!

2.  If I’ve read any part of the subscription, has it added value to my life in a significant way? If not, UNSUBSCRIBE!

3.  If I’ve read the subscription, have I been able to use it to add value to others in my life? If not, UNSUBSCRIBE!

Peace!