project: unsubscribe
our study, march 2012
A while ago I wrote about culling blogs from my reader list (and loved your comments). I continue on with Project: Unsubscribe by asking the same questions as I did in that post. I now follow only 21 blogs including 4 that are on probation. That is a huge reduction from the 85 in total I had in November last year. And dramatically different from well over 100 that I read when I first got into blogs. I see the great leaps I’ve made and pat myself on the back.
I have taken the mind declutter project with more conscious vengeance to my email and twitter accounts. Those few fashion stores I was subscribed to – unsubscribed. While it is one of the very few ways I expose myself to advertising, I was telling myself that by being on the mailing list I could catch the specials and save money. But it also meant that several times a week my email was blasting out to me “YOUR WARDROBE IS NOT TRENDY ENOUGH AND SOMETHING IS MISSING!”. I am perfectly capable of ascertaining what is truly needed or desired without those emails. Blogs that just added mind clutter or lacked authenticity – gone. Twitter feeds that are negative or mean – bye bye. I’m still subscribed to lists regarding events, exhibitions and new restaurants as these are things we value.
The feelings I’ve gone through during Project: Unsubscribe are fascinating and a little embarrassing to admit. All of a sudden it became much much quieter in the email inbox. Sometimes I wanted to tap the computer and ask “is this thing working?”. There was the feeling of being detached from everything that is happening. Lonely. Unimportant. Oops I remember – some of them just wanted my money anyway. That’s not being important. That’s being a market segment.
There is honest and very analytical thinking before I press Subscribe instead and I have become much more critical over the years. Each time I’ve fought back against the cycle of advertising and constant connection and happenings, it gets easier.
Weeks went by and I began to relish the calmer inbox and feed. There are less items to delete, less stuff to process in my mind, no annoyances at fake people, fewer negative words to read, no harassment to fend off, less wasted energy for no return and more clarity for my own thoughts. One day I found myself literally smiling as I sat down at the study desk. I realised something… when that number flashes up to indicate I have mail I now know that the chances are very high that it is a real person emailing me. Someone who loves me, someone who wants to organise a get-together, share a recipe, share thoughts on my blog or present to me an opportunity.
With all the noise filtered out that number stands out brightly as a beacon of my value to others and their value to me. That number makes me happy.
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Great idea Lucent…it has actually taken me ages to work out how to un subscribe from blogs that I no longer like. I am going to re-visit my list and do more culling, thanks for the inspiration
I was only re-reading what you had written in March about culling blogs from your reader list a few weeks ago, and did try a feeble attempt to reduce mine. When I started my blog eight months ago, I never imagined I would have as many followers and my reading list would have expanded as much as it has.
It does go against living a simple and uncluttered life doesn’t it? As with other de-cluttering it is not easy making those choices!
I must try harder, thanks again for the reminder!
Sarah x
I am in the middle of doing this too. I’ve cut down my blog list are much as I can handle right now, and now I’m on to unsubscribing from mailing lists. I’ll get there eventually!
x Jasmine
This tallies so well with my Live Simply principles – I’d like to link to it on my blog. Well done with all the clear thinking! I’m inspired to do the same….
Yay for happy numbers! The world is noisy and busy enough without adding to it with an unnecessarily overflowing inbox. Well done!
Oh, I so admire your ability to do this, and your honesty in describing the process. And the one photo says it all! Thanks for sharing and reminding me that this is possible. My own bigger clutter are things saved in the house, for only the reason that I am not ready to let go of much of it (and my excuse, of course, is not having the time). I am planning a stay vacation in the fall to do a major decluttering. There, I’ve committed to it here, and I’ll report on whether my intention is real and turns into action. Thanks for being here!
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Hi! *waves* Real person here.
I’ve been removing a few from my reader as well. I realised that when I automatically click ‘mark all as read’ and don’t actually read the posts, it’s probably time to delete it from my feed!
It is such a great feeling to reduce the world down from it’s noisy, incessant beeping to the minimal and the real. I’ve been lapsing a bit in my efforts so thank you for the inspirational reminder as always, you’re a beacon of light! x
I need to do this for my emails too! Too often I am lazy and it seems easier to just click “delete” instead of going through the process of unsubscribing. But you have reminded me that it is well worth the effort. I definitely feel more at peace when I have a tidy inbox, full only of genuine content x
Just reading about your smaller, more personal inbox and reader makes me want to unsubscribe from the way-too-many blogs in my reader. I hold onto some subscriptions the way I hold onto some items at home – I might need/want/have to have that item at least one more time – or in the case of subscriptions – I might miss out on something. My google reader holds 150 subscriptions..but when I peruse the reader, I seek out about 15 blogs specifically.
It’s all too much. Your post is an excellent nudge to get me going in the right direction (unsubscribe unsubscribe unsubscribe). I will survive, after all! (love your blog!!!)
We have to do this every now and then. Your collection will just keep getting better and better .
I love unsubscribing to emails – but it has to do with a special hate I have for spam. I am guilty of having over 70 blogs in my reader currently but blogs get taken out and added constantly. However your blog is a great reminder that there’s a lot of blogs I barely look that should really be deleted!
What an inspiring post! I recently did a cull, not the wardrobe but my twitter. I call it noise too. It’s difficult having to filter out inane conversations and trying to get the ones that I really want to read.
haha you make me laugh, love the way you write and when you share more words. I have just been not signing on to Twitter then when I do I get off quickly. I would delete it but I’ve met some beautiful creative Dutchies through there so I keep it for that. Keep the cull!
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head… it’s all about quality not quantity. Given I’ve gotten to the point where I tend not to open my gmail at all any more because it has a 1,000 unread emails in it, I think I need to do the same! Then I’ll do my blog list and then I’ll hit my wardrobe… eek!
Oh, I do this ever so often!
Often times, I feel inadequate about my blog because I am not popular enough to get many followers and comments. I also noticed a pattern by looking at a great variety of blogs — those that talk about nothing seem to gather more crowd, while more personal ones that show a ‘genuine’ person would have less people interested. I wonder why that is?
So maybe I should take heart in knowing that my blog aims at achieving personal connection with real and interested people, as opposed to those ‘fake followers’… That’s just my two cents, and I’ve gone off the tangent *LOL*
Over the past half year or so, I have been culling my wardrobe. It still is a work in progress, and this deserves a blog post, or two, for the future
-Juanita