More than 20 years ago, I decided using one email address for everything was a brilliant idea. Work, shopping, social media, personal correspondence… why complicate things?
Apparently, I was saving all the complications for later.
Like fall when I’d rather be outside… doing anything but mowing. 😉
Today, I have four email addresses that I use regularly, each supposedly serving a different purpose. Except my original work email is still the one everybody knows. It’s also attached to websites I’ve shopped, social media accounts I’ve created, and probably a dozen things I’ve completely forgotten about.
It’s a cluster.
I don’t need to close that original account. I’d just like to get a better handle on what comes in, what goes out, and who has that address in the first place.
Of course, that means sorting through more than two decades of questionable decisions, updating accounts, and figuring out which email address should be used for what.
All because 20-something years ago, I thought I was simplifying my life.
Little did I know I was just postponing the aggravation.
We were told technology would make our lives easier. Instead, we now need four email addresses, 87 passwords, and a verification code just to buy a pair of socks.
Now you know: The @ symbol was nearly obsolete before email saved it! In 1971, computer engineer Ray Tomlinson chose the rarely used symbol to separate a person’s name from their computer’s location when sending electronic messages. Before that, @ was primarily used in commerce to mean “at the rate of.” More than 50 years later, that little symbol is responsible for connecting billions of people—and, in my case, creating one heck of a mess. 😉
