You Should Have Three Emails

Your email inbox probably has 2000 unread emails. You probably check it constantly to ensure nothing important slips by, but every once in a while, something inevitably does. Most of the email you get is probably not worth receiving: promotions, pointless company updates, and that one newsletter you signed up for two years ago. I get it. This was me a few years ago. Flash forward to now: email is my favorite means of keeping in touch with people I don't see often, and my inbox requires almost zero management. That's thanks to having three separate email accounts.

Email #1 is your personal email account. This one is what email was originally intended for: talking to real human beings. Guard this email closely and only hand it out to real people you want to talk to – the equivalent of your home address and sending letters. There should be near zero frivolous notifications coming to this inbox.

Email #2 is for the countless services we use. This for your Amazon, Netflix, Ebay, PayPal, and other services you might have your sensitive personal information connected to. The majority of the emails I allow into this inbox are billing emails, not promotion. Some services are going to auto-subscribe you to dumb promotions, but it is fairly easy to unsubscribe to the handful of services you'll allow in here.

Email #3 is for all the spam. You want my email for this free ebook? Spam email. You want my email before I even try this service out? Spam email – I can create another account later if I like it. Rewards programs? Sure, but have my spam email. I literally don't check this email ever, and it is overrun with junk.

(Bonus) Email #4 is for newsletters. I enjoy subscribing to a handful of bloggers and newsletters (only after I've vetted them with my spam email of course). Some of these are daily newsletters that I often miss which is okay, but I don't want any of these other inboxes getting cluttered.

Pro tip #1: Don't use "spam" in your spam email (i.e. your.name.SPAM@gmail.com) because it is awkward to tell someone in-person to use an email with "spam" in it.

Pro tip #2: Instead of texting an old friend, "How are you?" ask for their personal email and take 10 minutes to write something with more depth. Ask specific questions about their life. Include specific updates about your own. It's much more gratifying than texting. Calling is probably even better, but people are busy.