Take Back Your Power--UNSUBSCRIBE!! (not to this)
Not that long ago, I was sitting in my recliner perusing my email and clicking the links within when I realized three enormous things:
1) The sun had somehow set, which suggested I had missed both dinner and cocktail hour.
2) My dog and cat were staring at me from about 18 inches away, salivating and apparently plotting my ultimate design.
3) I had just spent multiple hundreds of dollars on clothes that I didn't even realize I wanted, much less needed, only hours before.
That's when I realized that I wasn't the problem. It was my email. Imagine a time before email, like those long-ago foggy days of the early 1990s, when to spend your money, you had to leave your home and go to a place that offered items to trade for it. I realized that it's no wonder that my closet doors won't close and I discover shirts that I haven't worn in months because I haven't seen them in months. I realized I am a pawn to evil power of my inbox. Do I want the previous season's hottest jeans? Heck yes I do--I just found out they're on sale! Is the lamp on my entry table sufficient? No way--I can get a more stylish and energy efficient option for 40% off! My favorite shoes from last summer are available in four new colors? STOP EVERYTHING--I NEED THEM ALL!
I buy things not because I need them or even because I really want them, but because some data scientist and marketing nerds got together and designed the perfect email with an irresistible subject line and the perfectly calibrated sale to make me think I'm actually saving money every month when I pay a rising credit card bill. I realized this, and I made a decision.
THIS SHALL NOT STAND!!!
So I started fighting back, using the smallest but legally-required weapon at my disposal, the Unsubscribe button at the bottom of each email. No, I don't think I want a special deal on a subscription to vitamins--UNSUBSCRIBE!! No, I don't want another four blue Calvin Klein dresses, just because I bought one eighteen months ago--UNSUBSCRIBE!! No, I don't need new carpet one year after buying my current carpet--UNSUBSCRIBE!! With each defiant click, I regained a little of my personal sovereignty and buying power. With each unsubscription, I declared my independence from the machine of targeted advertisements and market research. With each preemptive deletion from my inbox, I took back a few moments from my day.
I haven't achieved a perfect record. I still believe that there's a decent chance that I will need Frye's Melissa riding boots in a couple more colors. It's a compulsion. I can't help it. Plus they're really really comfortable. And pretty. But I'm doing better. I unsubscribe from a few mailing lists every week, and I feel a little more in control of my bank account, my time, and my brain each time. So I say to you...
UNSUBSCRIBE!! UNSUBSCRIBE!! UNSUBSCRIBE!!
I promise you won't regret it.
