Ever have one of those days where you realize the pile on your desk can’t be overlooked any longer?  Today I took a serious look at that growing stack of my “to do” pile, and decided it’s time to deal with it.

I soon realized that 75% or more of my incoming snail mail is nothing but junk mail.  I had at least 4 or 5 pre-approved credit card offers (I actually skimmed through 3 of them), 2 catalogs that seemingly appealed to me that I flipped through, and a ton of other unofficial looking garbage that I flagged as junk mail right away.

All in all, I wasted 10 minutes of my day, that I could have been doing something else, going through all this mess.  What’s worse, I began doing some quick mental math on how much of my future time I will waste going through this same old routine.

If I spend 10 minutes each week for 1 year sorting through my junk mail, it will cost me a grand total of 520 minutes in the upcoming year.  That’s 8 hours, 40 minutes of my time wasted over the next 12 months so someone can try to sell me something I don’t want.

You’ve got to be kidding me!?

Nearly 9 hours of my time over the next year reading junk mail? Oh hell no!  This has got to go.

A quick Google search reveals the entity that has been polluting my mailbox all these years:  The Direct Marketing Association (DMA).  Their website looks very official with front page real estate dedicated to stories why they provide a value added consumer experience, and even a case why they are a Green Living based organization (or something related along these lines).  Basically, it looks like an industry concerned about losing their jobs just like the telemarketing crowd who lost their jobs after the implementation of the National Do Not Call List.

Long story short, I did some navigating and got 3 things accomplished I should have done years ago:

1. Opted out of all Catalog based Marketing. If I want to see pictures of a store’s merchandise, I’ll checkout their website for up to date information and pricing instead of the old Sears & Roebuck method.
2. Opted out of all Promotional based Marketing Mailers. I hate this stuff because it’s generally something obnoxious looking or something very official looking to trick you into opening it.
3. Opted out of all Pre-Approved Credit Offers. This includes credit cards, insurance offers, and I’m presuming it includes those annoying home equity loan checks or home equity lines of credit as well.

How to Stop Junk Mail, and Rid Yourself of the Junk Mail Productivity Killer?

1. Go to the Direct Marketing Association’s Opt Out web page.
2. Click the “DMAChoice – DMA’s Suite of Preference Services” link pictured below.
3. Click the “How to remove your name from mailing lists” link pictured below.
4. Register with the DMA, which will ask you for your name and mailing address.
5. Choose the junk mail you wish to eliminate.  I wanted everything eliminated, so I removed my catalog choices and all “promotional mail”.
6. Choose between ending your ties with the DMA online (will require a credit card but is not charged) or sending a letter via snail mail along with $1.  I’m not giving these guys any more of my time or money, so I chose the online method to save time and save my dollar.
7. To opt out of pre-approved (pre-screened) credit card, home equity related loan, and other insurance based junk mail, you must go to OptOutPrescreen.com and click on the opt-out option at the bottom of the screen. 
8. Choose between opting out electronically for 5 years or permanently by sending in a signed agreement via snail mail.  I wanted this done quickly, so I chose the electronic option and will access the decision again in 5 years.

That should do it!  You are now free, or somewhat more free, of the junk mail that polluted your mailbox. Not only are you boosting your productivity, you are reducing your carbon footprint (somewhat indirectly) by eliminating potentially tons of paper products, ink related contaminants, and the energy required to transport those mailers to you that you would have disposed of (or recycled) anyway.

Not to mention, reducing the chances of identity theft.  I generally tear the pre-approved credit card and loan offers into a few dozen pieces for fear someone will rummage through my trash.

Some will say this type of post doesn’t belong on a personal finance or investing blog, but as I always say, my time is my most valuable asset.  The time that I invest in anything, whether it’s at the gym, this blog, or sitting in my lazy boy, is something that I will never get back no matter how much money I make or how much I try to optimize my daily life.  Thus, it’s not something that I take lightly and why I chose to rid myself of the junk mail burden.

What can you do with the 9 hours of time you just saved yourself this year?

Photo by KRob2005 @ Flickr

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