I’ve thought about this fundamental question for a long time: how many email accounts should I have? For years, I used alternate email accounts to meet my business or personal needs. If you’re trying to decide if this tactic suits you, I will share some things to consider.
You can have as many email addresses as you like. But, if you’re not careful, it might be a lot harder than it sounds to manage them all.
It’s worth having at least one personal account and one business account. It’s also possible to have more than that but keep in mind that managing multiple accounts is a challenge. So, a sound organizational system is vital.
One email account is likely necessary, but there are benefits to having more than one
Multiple accounts make it easier to organize the chaos of our lives by separating work and personal tasks. Suppose something comes up at work that needs immediate attention. In that case, you may only be able to deal with it later in the evening. It’s easy enough to flag it as unread so that it doesn’t interfere with your free time — or vice versa.
I have a personal email account for connecting with friends and family and professional connections. Then, I have another email account I use for my blogging and content marketing ideas. It keeps everything separate, so I don’t have to filter into one account.
It is useful to have a personal email account and a separate professional account
Having a personal email account and a separate professional account is useful. This is particularly true if you’re in the media or journalism, where it can be beneficial to have an anonymous account that doesn’t reveal your identity.
It’s also important to consider how many people will access your emails. If you’re in charge of a team, it might make sense for each person on that team to have their own email address. It makes communication easier if they all have their address book. Having multiple accounts can feel like overkill if you’re working remotely and are the only one on the team.
Having a separate account for personal use can help keep your work life from spilling over into your home life, which is good for both productivity and sanity.
There’s no correct answer here — think about what makes sense for your situation and go with it!
You may also want a backup email account
A good backup account isn’t associated with any of your personal information. You may wish to have one though that does help you with personal information if you get locked out. This is something to think about when you are asking the question, how many email accounts should I have?
If you don’t have a backup email account, there are some things to consider. First, getting back into your main account is easier if you lose your password and need to know the answers to your security questions. You should keep a backup email account in case this happens.
The second reason is that you might want to reset your password or change your password settings to be more secure than before. If you have a secondary email address, you can use this as a temporary solution until you can change the settings on your main account.
If you have multiple accounts, it’s also essential that these are different from each other. That way, if someone gets access to one account, they don’t have access to all of them.
If you use different accounts for different purposes, you can keep your life in order
Another thought how many email accounts should I have? One for each major project or hobby. If you’ve got several different projects at once — or if you’re just really into gardening or photography — then having one email address that includes everything can quickly get messy.
Having separate accounts for each project helps keep things organized and allows you to filter out irrelevant messages without completely ignoring them (or losing track of them).
So how many email account should I have?
Having two or three email accounts for different purposes can help you stay organized in your digital life.
Ultimately, it comes down to the types of emails you want to receive. Some people, like those in marketing and advertising, may want more than one account. Other people might only need one. Ultimately, how many email accounts you have depends on what type of information you want and how much you’re willing to wade through each day. If a mass amounts of different accounts are your thing, then go for it, but if not, a single one will suffice.