What Is Email Bankruptcy?

Date First Published: 28th May 2023

Topic: Computer Networking

Subtopic: Network Services

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 6/10

Learn more about what email bankruptcy is in this article.

Email bankruptcy is the process of wiping out, ignoring all emails older than a specific date, or closing an email account, due to an excessively large amount of email messages. This clears out all the old emails the user couldn't respond to and gives them a fresh start. Email bankruptcy can be done by manually selecting and deleting all emails older than a specific date or by automatic processes. Although the term 'email bankruptcy' can also be attributed to Sherry Turkle in 2002, Lawrence Lessig is usually associated with creating it in 2004.

After declaring email bankruptcy, a message is usually sent to all senders explaining the problem. It will say that email bankruptcy has been declared due to an overwhelming amount of messages that are getting out of control. The message may say something like:

When Should I Declare Email Bankruptcy?

Like financial bankruptcy, email bankruptcy is quite rare and you shouldn't declare it very often. Declaring it too often will lead to more problems than you solve and will backfire on you. It clears all your 'debt', which are replies that you owe other people and gives you a fresh start. Email bankruptcy should be a last resort when you just can't keep up with your emails, no matter what. If you're sure that you can keep up with your emails after a few days, then you don't need to declare email bankruptcy.

When declaring email bankruptcy, always consider how many unread emails you have in your inbox and whether they are urgent or not. If there are thousands, then email bankruptcy is likely to be the best option for you. If there are only around 100, then it is unlikely that you need to declare email bankruptcy. Email bankruptcy is not an act of being lazy. It's a declaration that your email messages have gotten out of control and you want to start off with a fresh, clean inbox so that you can focus more on your current emails and manage your emails more effectively.

When declaring email bankruptcy, it is very likely that you will delete important emails, but if the sender really wants a response, then they can always resend the message. If the message was important, they will ask you about it. If not, then they won't ask you again.

Causes Of Email Bankruptcy

Below are five things that can cause an excessively large amount of unopened emails, leading to email bankruptcy.

• Lack of prioritisation - Not replying to emails in order of priority can cause your inbox to be flooded with emails from all sorts of people and make it harder for you to know which emails to respond to first. When prioritising emails, take a quick look at your emails and consider rating each email based on importance and urgency. Urgent emails need to be replied to quickly, whilst less important emails don't require a quick response and can be replied to later.
• Lack of email filtering - Email filtering automatically organises emails based on the sender, specific words, the subject, and more. For example, filtering emails with the word 'unsubscribe' can easily filter out newsletters. Also, filtering out the phrase 'buy now' can easily filter out promotional emails. Without filtering emails, your inbox will easily overflow and it will take the focus off the urgent emails that need a quick response. For more information on how to set up email filtering rules, you should research your provider for specific instructions.
• Relying too much on one email address. There may be times when you are just relying on one email address too much, causing one inbox to be flooded with too many emails. Instead, multiple email addresses should be set up for different subjects or departments. At minimum, there should be a separate email address for work and personal emails.
• Extended absences. Obviously, not checking your emails for a long time will cause them to pile up over time. Coming back from holiday or a break and seeing your inbox overflowed with emails is frustrating. Therefore, if you will be going a while without checking your emails, you should set up automatic replies. It allows senders to know that you are away and discourages them from continuously sending you emails, reducing the number of unread emails in your inbox.
• Trying to respond to every email. Not every email requires a response and most people don't respond to every email they receive. Some emails may simply be informational and not ask any questions and others may be unsolicited spam and ones that they shouldn't respond to as this could lead to more spam emails. People working in corporate settings can receive hundreds of emails a day and trying to respond to every email will definitely not work. Instead, it is best to prioritise.

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