Unsubscribe: How to Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, and Get Real Work Done by Jocelyn K. Glei

Email can be a blessing and a curse, but with a few simple strategies, it doesn’t have to be the former. In her book Unsubscribe: How to Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, and Get Real Work Done, author Jocelyn K. Glei offers an efficient and effective way to take control of the email inbox. Through simple yet powerful techniques, readers can make email into a stress-free and productive tool.

The book explains how email can be a major drain on our attention and motivation. We’re all familiar with the frustrating feeling that comes from being stuck in an email spiral, when every new message brings another to-do or task. Checking and responding to email can take up much of our time and energy, leaving little for the more important items on our list.

Glei’s approach to taming email anxiety is to create boundaries and reduce clutter. Reducing clutter means unsubscribing from unnecessary emails and utilizing helpful tools, such as folders, labels and filters. This helps decrease the workload of an inbox and makes it easier to find important messages.

Glei’s book also provides tips for creating healthy boundaries around email use. For example, setting and adhering to email-free times, such as the mornings and afternoons, allows for more focused attention to emails and helps to stay on track. Glei also recommends creating a weekly email review, where you look back at the emails you’ve received to identify patterns and trends in contacts, topics and more.

Unsubscribe also helps readers learn to use email as a tool rather than something to respond to immediately. Glei suggests using email as a way to store and keep tabs on important information, such as research and contacts. Finally, readers are advised to use email scheduling to send emails when they’re most likely to be responded to and to use email templates for short but important emails.

By combining a few smart methods, Unsubscribe helps readers take control of their emails and keep their inbox in check. Glei’s approach is straightforward, but still consists of helpful tips and tricks to make email management easier and more efficient. By following the advice in the book, readers can reduce their email anxiety, stay focused and organized, and use email as a helpful tool, rather than a nuisance.