Written by Nick F
Published on 2026-03-24
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I love email
I won't go too deep into it, but email is pretty great and generally amazing. It has a super wide userbase, is easy to get an account on, is possible to self-host, has a long success history, is useful for both people and automation, and I genuinely hope it does not go away. I still hope it gets improved and fixes the issues that it does have, but I'd rather see an improved email than a new system.
Email Clients
I generally use Thunderbird on my desktops and AquaMail on my Android Phones. They get the job done, but there are a few things I wish it was easier to make standard for my setup.
My Usage
In general I have a few rules I follow to make my email manageable.
- Only two folders: Inbox and Newsletters. I have Inbox for all emails that I should read. Newsletters folder is for the various newsletters that I get that I can read whenever. When I had many folders, I found that I would stress and care a lot about keeping things in their "correct" place. With good search, I've decided to not worry about that. I have many rules for tagging my mails for grouping, so I don't stress about the folder.
- Follow Inbox Zero. For the Inbox folder, the goal is to keep it to zero unread. If I read something and I need to do something about it, then I use Trello for tracking personal to-do items. I can forward an email to Trello but it's not often that I do, it's usually best to just write down what needs to happen. For the Newsletters folder, the rule does not apply. I usually have 60 to 90 unread items in there. I don't consider my newsletters to be time sensitive so I don't worry about them. I can read them whenever.
- Always use threads. This makes conversations easier for me to find and manage in the email clients.
- Mail that I send should be in the Inbox. This follows from always using threads. Mentally, I want my conversations in the Inbox. Just because I started a conversation doesn't mean it should be in the Sent folder. Same when I reply to someone, that message should live with the thread in the Inbox.
Things I wish was easier in any client
- All sent email should live in the inbox. I mentioned this one already. In Thunderbird this is easy to setup. In AquaMail I haven't found a good setting for this. I often will send an email on my phone, then later move it from Sent folder to Inbox
- One-Click button to ban a email address or email domain from contacting me. I get a plenty of junk from recruiters and others that I don't want to talk to. It is easy to delete an individual mail, but not easy to "ban" a user or domain. You can setup a filter, but it's a multi-step process and you'll end up with a lot of filters. And filters do not easily transfer between clients.
- Filters that can be shared between clients. I have a lot of filters setup in Thunderbird that check incoming mail for if they are a Newsletter and move it to the correct folder. It's not worth it to maintain two versions of this on my phone. So my phone puts many Newsletters in my inbox and then later when I turn on Thunderbird it cleans it up. Annoying!
- Mail tags that sync between clients. IMAP has a tag system, but it seems to generate a Number and different email clients will map that number to a different name. I had two laptops for a while, and both had Thunderbird. One laptop thought a "Work" tag was "Projects" tag and vice-versa on the other laptop. They both knew about tags, but they didn't know the correct name. Very annoying!
Things I don't use
Thunderbird and other mail clients often have a full Personal Information Management system in them. Calendar, chat, address book, TODO list, etc. I find that a Address Book is required, and a Calendar is a nice-to-have. I find it easy to reference my calendar in a webpage or on my phone, so I could do without it if needed. Chat and Todo lists are not needed for me.
Final Thoughts
Just wanted to collect my usage and desire of email somewhere. Everyone uses it different, and this is my particular way. The Hey.com email service does make some of what I want easier, but I'm not ready for their pricing. I currently pay less for Runbox.com and feel like I get a better deal. Perhaps I'll prototype a client that I like as an experiment one day.