STOP Sharing Your Inbox! Create These Email Accounts NOW.

If you’re smart (unlike me), you’ll set up an email address that is just for your gigging, whatever it entails. Whether you’re trying to be an influencer, a freelancer, a photographer, or a volunteer, anything that’s sort-of serious but not actually your job should end up in one place.

Do this early on when you start a project, too. I'd love to set up separate email addresses for my resale business, my fitness class teaching, and my copywriting and freelancing, but getting all my contacts in those spheres to start emailing the new address instead of the old one would cause headaches. Setting it up early precludes that, but also helps you shift into a different headspace when you're corresponding with someone like a potential client. Idofeel more assertive when I'm talking to someone as "Lindsey Ellefson, MPH" or "Lindsey Ellefson, award-winning journalist" instead of just "Lindsey Ellefson." Setting up something like [your name][your title]@gmail.com can help you step into that more self-assured mindset.

Some multi-email tips

Try to designate your app-only email for free trials, too. When a trial ends, a company will stop at nothing to remind you that you can still Do not let these endless emails bother you or waste your time. Day pass at a gym? App-only email address. Free trial of a PDF editor or resume builder? App-only email address. Need to log into a public wifi that demands an email address for some unholy reason? You already know. Just make sure that for this one, you toggle off notifications, so your phone’s home screen doesn’t become overwhelmed with garbage.

I recommend using Gmail for all of this, too, because the Gmail app makes it so easy to switch between different accounts right on your phone. That way, you can even assign the addresses to different Chrome profiles on your computer, which has been a lifesaver for me as I toggle between different parts of my life. The only downside to going Gmail-only is that it's hard, at first glance, to see which address is receiving a message when you get an alert on your phone's lock screen. It shouldn't be a major issue, though, because for a lot of these, like the one for streamers, you should toggle push notifications off entirely.