Do you think about how your digital clutter might be impacting your life?

We talk a lot about physical paper clutter, but a lot of that clutter today comes in the form of an email straight to your overwhelmed inbox!

Today’s post will help with decluttering your inbox by unsubscribing from email lists.

These tips are brought to you by Danielle Smallwood, one of our Network Decluttering Coaches.

Do you struggle with unsubscribing from mailing lists?

It’s not every day anymore when I’m slammed by feelings of real panic about decluttering something.

But it turns out that unsubscribing from email lists is a trigger for me! Who knew?!

Anyone else have a hard time unsubscribing?!

After some consideration, I’ve determined that two things, in particular, were bothering me:

Issue #1: Forgetting

My ADHD brain can’t remember why I walked into a room, let alone the name of the store I bought that present from five years ago.

WHAT IF I FORGET THE STORE AND CAN NEVER SHOP THERE AGAIN?

Issue #2: Guilt

I’m actively list-building myself for my business, so unsubscribing especially from smaller lists makes me feel disloyal, or perhaps even worse, like I’m creating bad karma.

Related Read: The Ultimate Guide to Decluttering Your Digital Life

How I’m solving these issues so I can declutter my inbox.

Issue #1: Shops I Worry About Forgetting

I’ll make a list in the Notes App of my phone with their name. I don’t even need the website – can always Google that!

Searchable Notes are an ADHD girl’s best friend. I use as many keywords as I can think of, since I always worry I won’t be able to find the note, either, lol.

Searchable keyword options:  Stores I like, places to buy presents, etc….

Issue #2: Feeling Guilty

Here’s the thing:  It does no one any good to have you on their email list if you’re no longer interested in the emails. It hurts their open rates and can be costing them money.

In other words, it can actually do harm!

So if a list isn’t relevant to you anymore – or not for this period in your life anyway – just unsubscribe!

It doesn’t have to mean anything negative about the store or business! And if you might be interested later, make another list…

Is unsubscribing hard for anyone else? How do you work through it?!

Danielle Smallwood is a decluttering coach with a mission of combatting clutter shame. Get more of Danielle’s best tips for decluttering your home here.

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Extra Help Inbox Help

Tame Inbox Anxiety

Does logging into your email cause you all sorts of anxiety and stress? Check out these 7 tips to stop email anxiety in its tracks!

Need even more inbox help?

Check out our course, Email Inbox Rescue!

It’ll help you save at least 5 hours per week on managing email in the first month alone. Say no to email inbox anxiety and overwhelm.