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Poll: How many messages do you usually keep in your inbox?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Mar 13, 2018

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many messages do you usually keep in your inbox?".

This poll was originally submitted by Natalia Pedrosa. View the poll results »



 
Jasa Pipan
Jasa Pipan
Slovenia
Local time: 21:17
French to Slovenian
+ ...
Funny you should ask... Mar 13, 2018

...because I finally have some time (i.e. an hour or so) ahead of me with nothing profiling on the horizon and I set out to clean my inbox...which proved to be a more complicated task than I anticipated! I currently have 850 messages in my main account (the one I use for potential and existing clients) and I really, truly hope to be able to get this number down to a more manageable one.
I also plan on adding labels to my remaining messages but I have a feeling it'll have to wait unt
... See more
...because I finally have some time (i.e. an hour or so) ahead of me with nothing profiling on the horizon and I set out to clean my inbox...which proved to be a more complicated task than I anticipated! I currently have 850 messages in my main account (the one I use for potential and existing clients) and I really, truly hope to be able to get this number down to a more manageable one.
I also plan on adding labels to my remaining messages but I have a feeling it'll have to wait until another such time window presents itself...

I do have a related question, though: do you always keep all correspondence with your clients or do you delete some of the messages? I'm inclined to keep it all, in the spirit of transparency, but I don't know if that won't just clog my inbox in a matter of weeks again ...
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Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 21:17
Member
English to French
45 Mar 13, 2018

I've never got used to online e-mail clients, so I still use good old Outlook to handle my e-mail.
My Inbox folder only contains e-mail that I haven't dealt with: updates to make, people I haven't replied to, translations underway, info I need to keep...
As soon as a job is delivered, I move all related communication to an "Archive" folder. Then rules are applied to this folder to archive (compress) messages older than 3 months.
I also sort and handle mail through other folder
... See more
I've never got used to online e-mail clients, so I still use good old Outlook to handle my e-mail.
My Inbox folder only contains e-mail that I haven't dealt with: updates to make, people I haven't replied to, translations underway, info I need to keep...
As soon as a job is delivered, I move all related communication to an "Archive" folder. Then rules are applied to this folder to archive (compress) messages older than 3 months.
I also sort and handle mail through other folders: "Purchases", "Newsletters", "Prospects", etc.
The idea is to keep my e-mail tidy and uncluttered.

Plus a collection of .pst/.msg files on my NAS box. I can find anybody who has ever contacted me since 2000.

I saw somewhere that I had 23,000 "conversations" on the e-mail I use for business, whatever that means.

I also have other non-business e-mail accounts, which I am much more lenient about.
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Angus Stewart
Angus Stewart  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:17
Member (2011)
French to English
+ ...
less than 5 Mar 13, 2018

I like to be clutter free and only keep emails pertaining to projects I am currently working on or negotiating in my inbox, which normally keeps the total below 5. The rest get archived to client specific folders where I can easily find them if the need arises.

 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 20:17
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
I currently have 580 messages... Mar 13, 2018

It needs cleaning ASAP...

 
Michael Harris
Michael Harris  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 21:17
Member (2006)
German to English
Other Mar 13, 2018

At the moment I have about 6000 from the past year (already gotten rid of non-relevant stuff) and I always delete everything every 6 months so that only 1 year worth of mails are there.

[Edited at 2018-03-13 09:23 GMT]


 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 13:17
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Over 1,000 Mar 13, 2018

This past weekend I cleaned out about 700.

If they are client-related, I always file them immediately. Each of my clients has a separate folder (inside a larger folder). That way, I can find them quickly.

In fact, my filing system is quite deep and intricate. I just need to be more vigilant about the messages lurking in my Inbox.


 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 21:17
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Mar 13, 2018

I have several free webmail accounts, but no snazzy pay-as-you-go ones. The only snag is that sometimes my emails are rejected as spam by security systems, especially over the weekend or outside "normal" working hours, but only occasionally. In the main Yahoo account I use for work, I just tend to leave the emails to and from clients where they are, because that way I can refer back to them to check which documents were sent on which dates. etc.
I have other email accounts that I use for
... See more
I have several free webmail accounts, but no snazzy pay-as-you-go ones. The only snag is that sometimes my emails are rejected as spam by security systems, especially over the weekend or outside "normal" working hours, but only occasionally. In the main Yahoo account I use for work, I just tend to leave the emails to and from clients where they are, because that way I can refer back to them to check which documents were sent on which dates. etc.
I have other email accounts that I use for, for example, association membership emails, and another account that I use when I think I'm going to be spammed, for example when websites oblige you to register before viewing the content, and other accounts that I opened over the years fpor one reason or another. The main problem is remembering the passwords, especially if the service providers assume that every time you login from a different location or machine, you are being hacked, and make you change your password. As they invariably do.
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Agneta Pallinder
Agneta Pallinder  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:17
Member (2014)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Jolted into archiving Mar 13, 2018

Until a minute ago I had over 2300 - now just over 400 - this year's only - all the rest archived into 2017 archive. Thanks for the prompt!

 
Peter van der Hoek
Peter van der Hoek
Spain
Local time: 21:17
Member (2008)
Dutch to English
+ ...
None Mar 13, 2018

I never keep any messages in my inbox.

All translation-related mails are immediately filed in the Translations folder, private mails in the Private folder and the rest is deleted.
This way, I can immediately see whether an incoming email is/may be important or not.


 
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Yetta Jensen Bogarde  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 21:17
Member (2012)
English to Danish
+ ...
10-20 Mar 13, 2018

Only the ones that need some action on my part.
The rest are filed, even when the project is not yet finished.

[Edited at 2018-03-13 10:05 GMT]


 
Jennifer Forbes
Jennifer Forbes  Identity Verified
Local time: 20:17
French to English
+ ...
In memoriam
About 250 at the moment Mar 13, 2018

I usually keep emails concerning work until I've been paid for the job concerned. I keep other messages for as long as suits me if they are especially interesting, useful or funny.

 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Lol Mar 13, 2018

I love the way that 20% "don't know" even though Outlook keeps a running total on screen.

 
M. Anna Kańduła
M. Anna Kańduła  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:17
English to Polish
0-10 Mar 13, 2018

But usually not more than 5. Anything else, after being dealt with (a finished project, a finished conversation, etc.) is moved to appropriate folders or deleted.

My inbox is my "desk". It contains only matters that yet need to be addressed. Other folders are "drawers" where everything is stored.


 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 21:17
French to English
I don't know Mar 13, 2018

Chris S wrote:

I love the way that 20% "don't know" even though Outlook keeps a running total on screen.

Not everyone uses Outlook!

I got myself a brand-new address this year, notifying clients in my Happy New Year message. That was I only get notifications for work on my phone. Friends can usually wait longer for an answer.

So I have tons in my old Outlook, but it's all friends and family and volunteer work,
while for my new address, it's all pro and for the time being I haven't learned to file any of it away. As usual I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, when I've run out of capacity.


 
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Poll: How many messages do you usually keep in your inbox?






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