We all use it, and we all hate it (at least sometimes). Email has come a long way, yet is still the backbone of digital communication.

For National Email Week, we’re putting a spotlight on the one tool you can’t avoid, but definitely can improve: your email.

Your Annual Wake-Up Call for Inbox Chaos

The second week of June is National Email Week. Make no mistake: no one’s baking a cake for Gmail or writing poetry to Outlook. You’re not the only one who isn’t flattered by an inbox full of unread emails. Still, like it or not, email is unavoidable. It’s how you receive your receipts, job offers, spam, and, very occasionally, actual important messages.

National Email Week is a reminder that your inbox deserves more than the habitual swipe-to-archive. It’s a chance to rethink how you use your email, tighten your security, improve your setup, and maybe, just maybe, get to inbox zero. Or at least, make peace with the number.

Why Bother With Email?

It was predicted that instant messengers would kill off email by now, but that clearly hasn’t happened. It’s obvious why: email isn’t just another way to send a message; it’s electronic mail.

Instant messengers are today’s version of a quick conversation or a phone call. They’re great for back-and-forth or casual talk, but email carries authority and a level of officiality that messengers can’t match. That doesn’t mean email is only for formal matters—people use it for everything—but when you need a message to have weight, traceability, or even just a professional tone, nothing replaces email.

The truth is that if you don’t manage your email, it manages you. Checking emails and replying to them is on the to-do list of almost every office worker. For most people, email is a source of low-level anxiety stemming from hundreds of unread emails in a messy inbox.

Your email account is the skeleton key to your digital life and is almost always your access key for every other website or app you use. Lose control of your email, and you lose control of everything linked to it—banking, shopping, social media, cloud storage, the whole lot.

I lost my Outlook mail last year, and trust me, it was a pain changing my email on every service and platform. I’m still logged into some services with the old email. If they ever decide to send me a 2FA code, or log out for any reason, I’m screwed.

National Email Week is the perfect excuse to finally tame your inbox, get your security in order, and make sure your email is working for you, not against you.

MakeUseOf’s National Email Week 2025

Our World Email Week hub is packed with practical tips and guides to help you reclaim your inbox. Visit our National Email Week hub for all our coverage—or better yet, sign up for the MUO Newsletter and get email advice delivered straight to your inbox. (Irony intended.)