Stop the madness!
Oct 29th, 2008 by Accidental Thinker
Judging by the dates on the messages in the Deleted Items folders of my work and personal accounts, it’s been about four months since my last email purge. Total tally of deleted messages I have accumulated since then? Over 4000. As in four THOUSAND pointless pieces of information to cross my screen in recent months, however briefly. Four thousand trashed tidbits permanently obliterated from cyberspace with the click of a mouse button. And that’s not even counting the emails I didn’t delete; the ones I routinely file away for future reference and reflection. After all, I’m a known network resource hog, flagged as a top offender by my IT department for filing nearly as many messages as I dispose of. And it’s also not counting the untold messages lurking in my Sent folders; my own personal contribution to the cyber glut.
I’ll be honest—some of those deleted communiqués were still unread when I performed the routine master purge today. I’m only human. I can’t keep up. It’s information overload of the most intense proportions, and I want off the merry-go-round. My poor little brain just can’t process that much data. And in my attempt to too quickly dispatch replies, I have been brief to the point of curt, which has led to at least one misunderstanding within the past week.
I love email, when it comes from friends and family. So to those near and dear, please don’t see this as a request to discontinue the practice. Your messages are often the only bright spot in my inbox, bringing a welcome break from my otherwise hectic days. Honestly, I like knowing that you’ve thought of me. It’s the other 3,873 emails I’m complaining about here. They are just like my old foe, laundry. Before you’ve even had time to properly fold and put away the current loads, the hampers are already full again. It’s the same with my inbox. The onslaught is relentless and never-ending. Make it stop?
I’m almost afraid to comment here. But I do want to ask: Did you say ‘hampers?’ As is more than one? Yikes!
One thing I routinely do is empty our Sent and Deleted Items folders. Once a month or so. Same at work. Theoretically, that helps my computer run better.