Why should I delete emails? I might need them and I have the storage capacity.

Sure. But according to the French energy agency, sending and receiving email emits ~19 gram of CO2 and storing it for a year adds 10 other grams. Not to mention the psychological burden created by seeing hundreds of unread or red-flaged emails.

So do yourself AND the planet a favor : delete what's not necessary.

➡ Step 1 : spams and unsolicited

I would advise to start with spam and all those promotional / unsolicited emails. Lots has been written about it, so I'll make it short.

In Europe, since yesterday we have this wonderful law, called RGPD, which force companies to delete all the data they have about us if asked. So ask!

If you leave outside the EU, you can still ask to not receive the news anymore. It's often a very small written unsuscribe link at the very bottom of the email. Keep doing so every time you receive new junk.

Bonus effect : you will no longer be tempted to buy that stuff that you don't really need but have a super discount on.

➡ Step 2 : anything expired

Use the search option of your email box to show all the expired email and delete them. By expired, I mean the ones about last month meeting, last week lunch with a co-worker, job offers that have long been given to someone else, reply ASAP that you never replied to etc.

You can put keywords like "meeting", "lunch", "invitation", "inauguration", "reservation", "appointment", "drinks", "exhibition", whatever works best for you. And toss everything that from before last week.

Beware effect : maybe the invitation have the name and contact info of someone you will want to call/meet at some point later. Just add the info to your contact list before deleting.

➡ Step 3 : take a break.

If you've come so far, you've probably already delete a few dozen of emails. Yeah for you!

➡ Step 4 : create folders

OK, that's a "time-consuming but effective in the long term" one. Create folders within your inbox for bunch of emails around the same topic.

For example, I create a folder everytime I am working on an article. Every information, investigation, rendez-vous and stuff regarding that subject go in it. When it's finish, I usually keep the folder for two weeks (just in case) and then delete the whole thing. Hundreds of emails gone with one click.

Same goes for my holidays. Every reservation and exchange regarding a trip goes into the dedicated folder. Back from the holiday, that folder is deleted.

➡ Step 5 : create automatic rules

If you don't know anything about technology and can't make it, that's totally fine. But it is worth trying and looking for, trust me :)

The idea here is to let the machine move emails into the designated folder instead of doing it yourself every time you receive one. The way to do it depends on every mailbox and my English is honestly not good enough to explain it, but there are plenty of great tutorials around the web.

I use this for my work agenda for example. Every time my manager approves my day off or one of coworkers takes a day off, our software send us an email. These are useful to know where is who if I need to, but I definitely don't need to read them every time. So they go automatically in their folder and never appear in my work flow. Then every Friday I delete the old ones (see step 2).

That's so far for me! Following it won't leave you with a 0 mailbox but it will make a good dent in the digital moutain and allows a smoother work.

I LOVE working with these people, and I notice now all the differences between my last job and my current one. Since I work remote, I work when I want as long as I do my 8 hours. I don’t have to commute. I have so much more energy and creative flow. I don’t have to sew all the time, and get to DESIGN plush which is what I got my degree in.

It just really goes to show me how unhappy I was in my last job. I enjoyed when I was designing, and I enjoyed my coworkers; but sewing all day for a boss that doesn’t understand the editing process for plush, the 2 hour commute either way, and the lack of understanding from my boss left me so completely burnt out every day and destroying me physically and mentally.

Hi guys so I’m Fiona and I just I thought I’d write something up about part time or casual working during year 12! Right now at July 2014 I am working as a casual in vic gardens Cotton On, although I started as a Christmas casual in Bourke street in November 2013.

Okay so firstly, I am by no means an expert. You yourself may have been working for longer than I have, or know people or siblings who have been in the workforce for even longer than me, but I just thought I’d give one perspective on work during VCE although there are always a multitude of factors.

People always ask me about work during such a busy year, and how I have the time for it but honestly I’ve always said and will continue to say that it really depends on you as a person, your Interest or commitment to the job, and the subjects you take.

When I say you as a person, I mean like are you just picking it up or have you been doing it for a year or two years or a massive 3 year duration? ( yes okay that sounds like a long time but half the people at my place have been working for the company for 3 years!) Anyway, if you’ve been working there for a long time I see no reason for you to stop now. Other than reducing your shifts to accommodate for the extra workload and pressure, if you’ve been dealing with this extra activity then you should have no problem continuing should other factors allow! Unless of course you’d want to quit, but I’ll discuss that later in the interest and commitment bit.

If you’re wishing to start taking on a new job of course I’d advise against it- Unless of course you have been dealing with other activists for many years as in music or sport or extra commitment within school as THEY DO ACTUALLY HELP With time management. I did a lot of that stuff at my old school and at macrob too and since I started in year 3 I’ve been taking on extra activities and dropping some when I take on others and at macrob, a lot of girls have also been doing that from a young age. And for extra activities I don’t actually mean tuition because although that does take up a lot of time and requires time management, most likely you’ll be continuing tutor throughout year 12 so adding on a job would be increasing your workload since you can’t drop anything.

Also as a note, picking up a job may require you to drop some things once in year 12 just so you do have ample time to study and such.

I did however start at the end of year 11 so you could say I picked it up at the beginning of year 12, but for year 12 I dropped quite a lot. ( although don’t forget to allow for some specific year 12 extracurricular so you may want to Join ie formal committees, year 12 reps of leadership etc)

When I started I did a lot of shifts since it was in the holidays, so some days I was doing 7-9 hours and others 4-5. Right now since it’s the school period I don’t have a lot of availability because it takes time to travel and I have some things on after school. Right now I a sitting on about 4 hours every Sunday and 5 hours every other Saturday which is a pretty good deal considering you do get job benefits and experience as well as pay. Working all weekend is sometimes a bit inconvenient because this Is when one usually catches up on sleep and homework but because of a part time Job or casual work you don’t get that rejuvenation ( especially on weekend hours), so it’s the same time frame as say after school on a weekday for regeneration. 

So for the section on the subjects you take i mean to specify the demand of your subject, or the amount of time or dedication towards study of the subject. It is quite intricate though and not a simple yes or no for each subject. For Me personally, am taking methods literature indo viscom and ei, and i did one 34 last year i think it would be more ideal to have a part time job when you’ve done 2 34 subjects in year 11 as it gives you more frees and more time to study. I only did one and am taking, i guess subjects that people may consider quite time consuming, so i guess im not the best person to talk within this area. But again, quite unexpected, although my subjects require quite a lot of time, and i only did one 34, having an extra commitment isn’t too difficult. Just a thought or something to consider? i don’t really know but yeah all the topics relate to each other and this one relates to you as a person. ie. if you cant stand working 24/7 and need breaks or a variety of activities, this may be good for year 12 however if you want to do quite content heavy subjects such as all Englishes or maths whereby you need to do many essays or many exercises and chapters, then this decision may require more thought. 

in saying all this however, during vce it is always and always will be a reasonable ask to take some time off during vce whether it is the month of exams or the month before; 

SO as a summary Pros; money, discounts, activity outside of regular schoolwork, experience, good for future ie. for uni (gets foot in door) Cons; consumes extra time which may be valuable in year 12, less time to relax or rejuvenate Things to consider! Look at the subjects you are taking, whether you even want to work and how YOU cope with stress.

Hey Anon,

When I apply for jobs as an academic referee I usually put down a teacher that has known me for a little while (this could be your form teacher). Definitely tell them first so they aren’t caught of guard if your prospective employer decides to call. If you aren’t sure what teacher you want to put down maybe think of what area the job is in- do they stress having good written communication skills, then ask your english teacher to be your referee. If its for work experience in a research lab- ask your science teacher. If you still don’t know, then email Ms Serpless :)

Good Luck with the application! If you get a job interview, let us know! I’ve successfully passed two of those so I may have some helpful tips :D