I use my own blog as a sort of tip-n-hints FAQ, so I just had to add this post about keeping your inbox clean. Since I currently have 344 unread emails in my Gmail inbox the following will be a big help to me, and hopefully some of you as well.

The official Gmail blog’s 9 reasons to archive article lists hints about when to use of Gmail’s archive function o you can keep your inbox cleaner. Even though I’ve been (under)using Gmail since 5/19/2005 the archive function is new to me.  If you’re asking “Why would I archive my emails and how do I do it” read the Archiving  mail FAQ from Google’s Help Center. 

So, here are the 9 reasons to archive your emails, according to the Gmail blog:

9. Phone numbers and addresses
You never know when you’ll need a phone number someone emailed you or an address that was in a signature.
(George adds: I often get asked to call someone I haven’t spoken to for months on end)

8. Procrastination
Sometimes you want to get a message out of your inbox, but you don’t want to deal with organization, and you don’t want to trash it.
(George adds: I am guilty of procrastinating, and now I can do without the usual worry!)

7. Posterity
Just because you’re not famous now doesn’t mean that in forty years (or fifteen minutes) you won’t want to write your memoir.

6. Winning arguments
“But on May 5, 2005 at 8:43pm EDT you said….”

5. Mailing lists
Do you really need to know what Clintobamccain is doing every day? Auto-archive* their messages until you want to donate again.

4. Birthdays
Search for “grandma birthday” and voila, find the message you sent her last April. Aren’t you glad you archived instead of deleted?

3. That guy
Remember that guy you thought you’d never need to get in touch with ever again?
(George adds: ‘That guy’ could end up being a new business partner! Or maybe not, see #1)

2. Because you can
May as well use the free storage space. Plus, clean inbox = clean mind.
(George adds: One of the best things about Gmail)

1. Fate-tempting is bad. You just never know
Thirty-one days after you send that message to the Trash and it gets permanently deleted, you’re going to need it. Don’t tempt the fates.
(George adds: This happened to me countless times, oh the shame!)

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Tags: archive, archiving, clean inbox, gmail

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