A Most Incredibly Boring Job
By pyewacket
@pyewacket (43903)
United States
March 4, 2008 6:03pm CST
If I seem to be a little more MIA than usual it's due to a lot of factors...of course I have my ongoing photo portfolios that I'm working on to send out to more companies and hopefully get more "nibbles" of interest, plus emailing many more places to see if they are interested in my photos...but that's not it exactly...what's going to keep me busy for a few days, is "cleaning" up files....Not only my photo file and get rid of the original scans of my slides as since I have the edited "tweaked" versions now don't need, plus going through my documents folder and see what I can delete there..the real "killer" is going throug my emails!
I started this last night...going through emails that date back...gasps...three years! even though I only got my own computer last year, I did have access to computers and had email accounts..Now I like to think I'm nice and organized...yup, seems in every OTHER area except organizing my emails into folders...like emails from friends, emails from newsletters, and on and on...So I could kick myself that I've been neglectful of organizing my emails and getting rid of many I just plain don't need anymore.
So most of my emails are in folders now to save...but now have to back track and go through them to see which ones I can finally ditch...as it is, I eliminated some 4,000 emails between last night and today...at least from my inbox folder...going through the individual folders to see what I can delete is another thing
So do you find going through files/folders or emails incredibly boring? Do you let things go until you realize you have a real heavy duty clearing and deleiting out of what you no longer need in folders or emails???....Please tell me it's not just me :(
7 people like this
18 responses
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
5 Mar 08
Spring is over the corner and we all are ready to clean and organize. It is boring, but we feel good when job is done.
I am ready to start my organizing job this week.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
5 Mar 08
I guess that's kind of why I thought about doing this finally...a computer version of spring cleaning..LOL
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (120738)
• United States
5 Mar 08
I tend not to notice how much storage I am using up until one day my gaze happens to land on the number in the right hand corner. So I'll go back through all my folders and delete what I know I don't need. The problem is that some of them I have to actually open and read. I wish I could just tell from the subject line or who sent it, but I can't. About every 6 months I go through everything. Wow, 4,000!?
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
5 Mar 08
MMMmmm--yup about 4,000...I get uh, distracted with other things, those "must do's" that is why I've gotten so far behind...drat! Remember that avatar someone had here some months ago, where the figure was pounding his head on the keyboard then blood spurted out as he mashed his head? Uh, that's what I feel like doing...LOL
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 Mar 08
I probably should have gone through and sorted out my emails long time ago, but I always have three thousand other distractions to think about...gee another thing I should go through and maybe delete are all my bookmarks..LOL
@GnosticGoddess (5626)
• United States
6 Mar 08
LOL - yeah I'm like that too.
I've got folders of things I've sold, dvd rentals, ect.
I wait until they've got a crap load then go through them instead of doing it like once a month or something.
Really I just forget about them or 'forget' about them LOL.
It's not just you babe...though I don't have quite so many :)
1 person likes this
@GnosticGoddess (5626)
• United States
6 Mar 08
That might be a good idea!
But you might want to consider keeping them and writing a memoir about your life :)
I'd buy it!
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
7 Mar 08
Oh I wouldn't need to keep those emails as part of a memoir...I could rewrite a lot what I had written by memory..LOL
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 Mar 08
I'm actually thinking of deleting many of the emails that go back some years and dealt and talked about my mother with my friends...uh, sort of another cleansing perhaps??
1 person likes this
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
5 Mar 08
No I don't find it boring. I like that type of thing.I got this trait from my mom. She and I love doing tedious jobs. I find them relaxing and when I finish, I feel like I really accomplish something.I have a on going job. I am putting all my movies that I have on tape or DVD into a index so I can find any title I have.It is fun. Plus I get to review the movies I have on tape and what I should get to go with the titles I already have.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 Mar 08
Maybe I should hire you and you could come over and you could help me sort out my emails...LOL
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (51819)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
5 Mar 08
If I save an email, I will save it to a specific folder rather than just "save". But a lot of emails I'll just delete in a day or two, if not right away.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (51819)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
6 Mar 08
Just because it hadn't occurred to you, doesn't mean you've been dumb. Back in the dark ages, before e-mail, I kept my correspondence in paper files in an actual file cabinet, so this was just an extension of that.
@BarBaraPrz (51819)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
6 Mar 08
Oh, and did you know that you can set up filters to have email automatically go to specific folders, rather than just your inbox?
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 Mar 08
I'm realizing how "dumb" it's been of me to not have made up folders to put a lot of my emails in...I'm doing that now though
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 Mar 08
Fun? Nope don't call this fun...LOL. took a break from it today...need to do some more work tomorrow though with my photos, but hope to get more email clearing out as well
@tigerdragon (4297)
• Philippines
5 Mar 08
i found that out early in my computing life that if i let this things pile up then i would have a big assortment problem . so, what i do is i purge some of them every month. i have the tendency to keep and keep a lot of things on my pc specially the bookmarks. i ran through them and go to the site and ask myself if i really do need them. i usually delete them.anyway, i can always type in anything on the net if i need them.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 Mar 08
Oh don't remind me! Sorting through my bookmarks and deleting many is probably another wonderful tasks I need to do
@Aussies2007 (5336)
• Australia
5 Mar 08
Yes... sorting your emails... is probably the most boring job needed to be done on a computer.
I usually try to do it every three months or so... and even then... I still need to delete around 500 emails.
The hardest part is to decide what to keep and what to delete.
And it is not only the emails you receive... but also the ones you have sent. Sometimes it is important to keep a record of what you have told people.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 Mar 08
Yes, going through emails and deciding what to keep and what not to keep is as exciting as going through and sorting old papers as well. I'm more hesitant about deleting any emails I've sent, for as you say sometimes you need proof of what you've sent/said
@charms88 (7538)
• Philippines
6 Mar 08
Ha, ha...of course you are not alone in in having this boring task. :) During my months of hibernation, I just let all the emails piled up without bothering to sort everything out.
Since I hopped back to mylot, I needed to refocus my mind and let myself get used to organizing all my emails. I didn't go on hauling all my emails but re-organizing one at a time.
As a matter of fact, I was able to finish sorting out everything only last night.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 Mar 08
LOL--well since you're finished organizing your emails why doesn't a charming bunny hop over and help me with mine? :)
@someonesmom (5761)
• Canada
5 Mar 08
Hi pye,
I have really been missing you around here lately. I guess to this you can say, 'touche,' as I'm reminded of all of the times you've wondered where 'I've' been. Thanks for caring, by the way. Anyway, yes, my in box, saved e-mails etc., do get in a horrific mess, and this discussion has reminded me that I need to take care of them. There are many e-mails that I just won't part with, and should have them on disc. By the way, I did send you 'a new message,' just the other day, but since you're going in so many different directions, I'll wait 'patiently' for your response. I did tell you that we're going away for March Break, didn't I? We're leaving next Monday. Take care.
1 person likes this
@someonesmom (5761)
• Canada
6 Mar 08
Thanks. I've read your e-mail, and will do my best to answer it before we leave on Monday. I can see why what you've been doing, would be really tiring. I'm still not feeling the greatest, so do need this time away. I'll really try to get some time on my sister's computer.
@Aurone (4755)
• United States
5 Mar 08
Happens to me too. I have something like 9,000 emails in my inbox and I am desperately trying to go through them and organize or delete them. I get hundreds of emails a day. Keeping track of my email is a daunting task and somedays I am just not up for it.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 Mar 08
Yikes you have more emails to sort out than I do...LOL Now I don't feel so bad..but yes, sorting through emails is not only daunting, it's as exciting as watching water boil, paint dry, laundry wash...uh, you get the idea..hehe
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
6 Mar 08
And I thought I had a backlog, pyewacket! My inbox is now containing a number dangerously close to 600, and that is something I've never allowed to happen in the past. Going through email has to be one of the most boring tasks there is. My biggest problem is that I like to hoard things -yes, even email, and since I don't have a printer I tend to file them away in folders. I do go through those folders every few months and clear out the ones I can manage to part with though.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 Mar 08
Well I took a break from my email sorting tonight...as long as I can get it done...uh, eventually I'll be happy about it
@idaantipolo (472)
• Philippines
5 Mar 08
HI! cheer up...it's just not you! I have 3 email accounts, and all of those accounts have already been there for 4 years now, and I do not get to login regularly in all the accounts so every time I visit my email, I get an average of 14 emails a day and not all of them I get to read, only the ones that really matter to me are the ones that I view. So time came when all the unread ones piled up and I have to view them one by one to see if there is something that would interest me. It is boring though so I just delete all the unread ones. :)
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 Mar 08
I was thinking of just deleting my old mails too, but then figured never know if there was something important in them
@sumofalltears (3988)
• United States
5 Mar 08
That would indeed be boring, but I don't have to do it because I don't keep anything unless I really have to. If I really have to keep something, I print it and put it in a hard copy file here. Otherwise I delete everything.
I will delete folders I no longer need at least 3 or 4 times a year. I really hate clutter especially on my computer.
When I first got my computer I was like a little kid and saved it all,now I know better....less it better...lol.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 Mar 08
Actually printing up emails or things wouldn't be a bad idea but then I'd be going through ink like crazy...and just what I need, more papers! NOT
@teapotmommommerced (10359)
• United States
28 Mar 08
I just lost the discussion I had written here how discouraging.
I said that I hope you finally got your emails cleaned up. I tend to do it daily so I do not get bogged down. I have problems with my word files on my puter.
I have old homework that I did five years ago. Now why do I keep it. I do not intend to go back to school unless I get a butt load of money and I will be traveling first before I got back to school.
Good luck on getting your photos all cleaned up. I love the photo you sent me with the cat for valentines day. I love looking at it.
@irishmist (3814)
• United States
8 Mar 08
I hear ya, I just cleaned out my whole computer last night, and it took me at least 3 hours. I didn't have files or emails, but tons of other stuff to clean out. Then I did a disk cleanup and defrag. guess my computer is good for a few more months before I have to clean house again. I really don't envy the task to have to undertake.
