How do you manage your email accounts? Am I overthinking email as a digital identity?
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to manage email properly. Nowadays, email is basically your digital identity online: it’s tied to accounts, password resets, banking, services, subscriptions, etc. But maybe I’m giving it too much importance?
Right now, I have three email addresses, each on a different provider:
Private/personal email – for important things and accounts I really care about.
Collaborative/work-related email – for things where I need to communicate with other people.
“Spam” email – for newsletters, random websites, shopping, trials, etc.
I’m wondering if this setup actually makes sense, or if I’m overcomplicating things.
A few questions:
Does it actually make sense to have three separate email addresses? Would two (one primary + one “junk”/spam) be enough?
is there any real benefit to having your primary email with a privacy-focused provider like Proton or Tuta? I’m already considering using one of them for my spam/junk address, but I’m not sure whether moving my main address there is actually worth it.
what about using your own domain? I’ve considered buying a domain and using it for email, since it gives you more control and portability between providers. But once you add the cost of the domain, email hosting/provider, and potentially aliases, it starts becoming relatively expensive. Is it worth it?
So I’m curious: how do you personally manage your email?
Do you have one address, two, several? Do you use aliases, your own domain, privacy-focused providers, or something else?