Declaring E-mail Bankruptcy
54,000 unread emails isn't an inbox. It's a graveyard. Let's dig you out.
Declare Email Bankruptcy
Ever opened your inbox, seen the number, and thought “yeah, not today”? Me too. I once helped an advisor with 54,000 unread emails. That’s not an inbox anymore, it’s a graveyard. Let’s dig you out. No courts involved.
- Understand the reset. Everything older than 60 days gets archived, not deleted. It still exists, still searchable, and if someone replies you still see it. We’re just getting that insane number off your face so your brain can work.
- No rules this week. We’re not sorting, reading, or building filters yet. That’s next week. This week is pure triage: get you out of the hole.
- Do it for your platform. Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo, it’s the same handful of clicks: select everything older than 60 days, archive it, done. A few clicks and you’re clean.
That’s it. I genuinely can’t stand seeing that many unread emails in someone’s inbox. It’s unhealthy.
Your assignment this week: Do the steps for your platform and feel the relief of an inbox that isn’t screaming at you.
Transcript
Have you ever opened your email inbox and looked at the number and said, Yeah, not today. Me too. And that's what we're going to talk about today. Welcome to Tool Time, where we talk about something completely different.
So here's what buried looks like. I was helping an advisor the other day, and I looked at his inbox. He had 54,000 unread emails. And I said, dude, are you okay?
And he said, honestly, no, at this point, if it's important, they'll call, which, yeah, fair. The problem is that's not an inbox anymore or helpful in any way. That's just a graveyard now. So instead, we're going to do something that you've probably heard of before, but never actually done.
It's called declaring email bankruptcy, and it doesn't include any courts whatsoever. Just a few clicks and we'll be set up. Hey, I just wanted you to know that you can't just say the word bankruptcy and expect anything to happen. I didn't say it.
I declared it. Still, that's not anything. That's right. We're not going to read them.
We're not going to check them. We're not going to do anything. We're just going to click a button and get rid of it all so your brain can finally work. That's the power of email bankruptcy.
We're going to fix you up and we're going to do it today. Here's how you do it. I'm going to... You're doing great.
Thank you. Kyle's the best. We love Kyle. Bye.
Here's what a reset looks like. We're going to take everything in your inbox that's older than 60 days and we're going to archive it. We're not going to delete it. It's still going to exist in your inbox.
If somebody reaches out and sends an email, you're still going to see it. So don't worry about that. But the nice thing is you don't have that crazy number staring at you in the face. We're not going to do any rules this week.
We're going to save that for next week. This week, we're just going to get you out of the hole you're in because I can't stand to see that many emails in somebody's inbox. That's just unhealthy. So here's what we're going to do.
There's going to be a QR code somewhere around here. You're going to scan it and it's going to take you to the little how-to video I made for Gmail, Microsoft, and for Yahoo. So that way you can actually get out of the email hole you're in. And next week, we'll worry about all the rules and all the other stuff.
So don't sweat that now. So your assignment this week, watch the video, do the steps, and get out of the hole you're in and feel a great sense of relief. We look forward to speaking with you next week. Have a great one.
Take it easy.