Ask HN: Do you send emails to yourself?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24329911

20 35 6 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I send e-mails to myself with interesting quotes, viewpoints, graphs/stats, tweets etc. that I screenshot or copy+paste.

Am I the only one? What do you send to yourself?

highhedgehog• 6 years ago

i do

dunce2020• 6 years ago

Yes, journal@(my name).com

SwanandK• 6 years ago

I do too, mostly book references

giantg2• 6 years ago

I usually just save them as a draft in the email application.

wildpeaks• 6 years ago

Yes: when I'm browsing on mobile, I send myself links to topics to look into further on desktop (where it's easier to have a bunch of tabs and applications open at the same time).

This way, I can reserve weekly blocks of time for processing these interesting links all at once instead of being side-tracked every time I encounter an interesting new rabbit hole.

2rsf• 6 years ago

Occasionally, mostly reminders

pierot• 6 years ago

I use my mailbox as a first-line todo-list, next to just e-mailing with people. So yes, I do send myself e-mails, very often.

RocketSyntax• 6 years ago

No. I use apple notes and reminders on all of my devices.

happyjack• 6 years ago

Sometimes. Usually just URLS with tutorials or something I need real quick. Firefox has a great little button on the hamburger menu on the search bar that pulls up your email client with the url in the body and the page title in the title of the email.

bzb5• 6 years ago

I use the “saved messages” feature of Telegram, which syncs across my devices.

aaron695• 6 years ago

Nikki Glaser talks about this on Joe Rogan, which is not safe for work -

Nikki Glaser Details Her Porn Habits - https://youtu.be/ey60IhkJF3E?t=484 (NSFW)

mckmk• 6 years ago

I use a modified GmailThis bookmarklet to send myself URLs frequently: https://github.com/DangerousPenguins/GTDPI

Just click the bookmarklet, optionally add any search terms and click send.

Jtsummers• 6 years ago

I used to. But not since I started using OmniFocus, which has an email address I can send things to. So I kind of still do, but it's specifically an email which goes to an application and not to a regular mailbox. I use my kindle email address similarly for PDFs.

I would send, primarily, links to future reading, or reminders of tasks I need to do. Especially from work (I've often worked in areas where a phone was not permitted for various reasons).

thomascgalvin• 6 years ago

Constantly. Emailing myself is the easiest way to "bookmark" something - be it a web page or a random thought - that I want to transcribe to my long-term notebooks.

King-Aaron• 6 years ago

I find it much quicker at times to email myself individual photos from my phone when I need them, as opposed to plugging the phone in and going through the directories.

CogitoCogito• 6 years ago

It is so common for me that I often accidentally send messages to myself that are intended for others (which clearly is better than the reverse). It’s my main reminder/notepad/etc method.

v0sian• 6 years ago

I have a self-hosted mail server and with a bunch of aliases. e.g.

- bookmark@example.tld

- todo@example.tld

- cal@example.tld

Each of the aliases is processed by procmail and performs certain action:

- creates a bookmark on the owncube.com

- adds a record to my TODO list

- creates event in calendar

ironmagma• 6 years ago

Any tips for running a self-hosted mail server in 2020?

parliament32• 6 years ago

Same as it was a decade ago. Postfix and Dovecot on debian stable, SA and RBLs so you catch spam, DKIM and SPF so your emails don't go to spam. I've been running my own mailservers for about a dozen friends for several years now, with no issues and maybe an hour of maintenance per month. The ISPmail tutorials are very good: https://workaround.org/ispmail

ezekg• 6 years ago

I used to very regularly, but nowadays I use the macOS notes app since it's synced between all of my devices. I may also text myself links/quick notes, but I don't really email myself anymore.

Norfair• 6 years ago

No. I use intray.eu for this.

pryelluw• 6 years ago

Sometimes. I'm also adding note taking capabilities to a little web app of my creation. The challenge has been reducing the time from thought to saving. The most promising solution at the moment is a browser plugin that talks to the app.

WorldMaker• 6 years ago

For general note taking I use OneNote, but sometimes if a work idea comes to me after work hours I find it is better to email my work address with the idea than most of the alternatives. It better separates the "spaces" in that sending that email means it is no longer my problem that night or that weekend. I don't keep work apps on my personal devices, and it's much better than booting up a work device to add it to a note taking app or a TODO list (or Kanban board or whatever), as it keeps me from falling into other work or checking work email in time that should be away from work.

dennisy• 6 years ago

Yes I do, but now I have 100's of todos and ideas which lets face it will never amount to much :(

kleer001• 6 years ago

Yes, I used to, when I worked in an office I would send myself stuff to my personal address. Now, not at all.

pkrotich• 6 years ago

Used to... now I slack myself - email inbox is major source of anxiety, for me, given how many unread/junk emails I get.

runawaybottle• 6 years ago

I used to as well, but my mail just has too much junk in it for it to feel like a workspace.

Seeing ads just makes it feel icky to me, or a random newsletter, and the spam folder that builds forever and sometimes leaks into my inbox (which always makes it feel like I’ve been infiltrated in some way).

Email is like regular physical mail now. You’d never think to methodically organize your physical mail because it’s been abused to oblivion. This is why we can’t have nice things (looking at you Google (search/mail)).

kvn_95• 6 years ago

I still do send emails to myself for safekeeping.

I also use specialized apps e.g. Apple Notes, Trello, etc. but usually I find email interfaces are easier, searchable, and I don't have to remember which app I stored that note in.

surds• 6 years ago

Yes, sometimes. Depends on the content to be sent.

I also send messages to myself on Slack.

lukaszkups• 6 years ago

Same, if I need to save something really quick that I'm gonna need for later, I send it via e-mail (e.g. note, URL, screenshot/photo etc.)

dyeje• 6 years ago

All the time. I send myself reminders and todos.

wprapido• 6 years ago

I also reply

PestoDiRucola• 6 years ago

No, but I do send myself messages on Telegram.

chrisbennet• 6 years ago

All the time! I mostly take pictures on my iphone and email them to myself.

It bothers me that the iPhone's "send to" (or whatever it's called) does not put my email in the "recent email addresses" choices even though I'm always emailing myself.

p0d• 6 years ago

Yip, reminders from my phone.

Ask HN: Do you send emails to yourself?

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