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I worked very hard to get a business up and running that allowed us to move to a rural part of Florida and live less. Less stress, less commute as our business is on our land, and less expenses. One thing I guard carefully is my time Recently I took notice of so many emails hitting my inbox that I thought it was time to go with a minimalists inbox!
As I have pursued a minimalist lifestyle, my business has followed along and it has increased our profit margins significantly. In another post, I’ll explain how I was able to be my own boss and quit my job and build a successful business but today I want to talk about a big time eater that also does a job on even the well planned budget – advertising emails in your inbox.
I have chosen not only a minimalist lifestyle, but a quality frugal lifestyle also. After looking in my closet at row upon row of shoes, I thought to myself, how many shoes does one person need? Do I really need 5 different black pumps when realistically I live in flip flops and sneakers as I work from my home office. Ah ha you say. Well not so fast.
We are bombarded constantly by advertising messages that tell us we will be beautiful if we buy this. Skinny if we buy that. Successful if we have this. These guys really know what they are doing with these messages – they get paid very, very well to get people to buy their STUFF. I’ve reached a point in my life where I have accumulated too much stuff and was victim to thinking I had to have the latest running shoes as I started training for 5K’s and mud runs. Truthfully? I use the oldest, yuckiest shoes I have for the mud runs. But watching the Nike advertisements, I would think I had to have special running shoes wouldn’t I?
The same was happening in my inbox. I honestly do not know how so many companies had my email address to send me their advertisement emails. I have received emails to redecorate my house, buy new furniture, trade in my truck, buy new running shoes (of course – this one I totally take responsibility for), shop for books, buy on Ebay, get pool chemicals, find a hotel, buy vitamins for my dogs (huh?), tickets to a museum, a new swimsuit, and the list goes on and on and on.
I have diligently been cleaning up my incoming emails so that they are only related to my business which is where my focus must be to live the lifestyle I choose which is family first, travelling second. Let me tell you – it has been a LONG road of unsubscribing to every solicitation email and I’m still unsubscribing. But there are rewards too. Instead of more than 1/3 of my emails being advertisements, the amount is decreasing every morning which allows me to quickly scan the incoming emails to determine which need to be responded to first. Second, the amount of time that is needed to clear my emails has drastically decreased allowing me more time to do the sales and marketing for the business.
As I have made a conscious decision not to waste my time in front of the TV, I have made the conscious decision to not be hit daily with advertising messages in my inbox. Imagine the time – and money – you’ll have when you do the same.
Blessings,
Denise
For tips on how to begin your decluttering journey, you can Start Here, or snag a copy of the 30 Day Challenge (our Minimalism and Decluttering eBook).
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