DeGoogle Yourself

My main suggestion is to start, and to start earlier rather than later. If you have an email account you don't like, every time you express that it's associated with you means you'll have to make one more update in order to completely switch.

I decided to switch around Black Friday when there was a discount for a paid subscription, and then to try to avoid using my old email account unless I saw a website reference it (like if I had to log in or specifically check for an email).

I feel a lot more comfortable using email than I used to (although I still try to avoid using it), so switching has improved my quality of life overall.

I got my own domain. It's still a ton of work because you have to switch everything, but once you've done this you will be independent: if you dislike your current provider you can make a copy, switch providers and every account keeps working.

Now my old Gmail accounts redirect everything to my new email and this way I can switch whatever I forgot.

IMO the best choices are Tuta Mail or Proton Mail. Proton has the best UI and UX but is a bit controversial due to its CEO. I personally use Proton because the UI is that much better.

@LavaPlanet @LEONARDE11 I switched a few times. With Tutanota. It's good and does what I need. I like it so much have gone from the free plan to the paid plan. My advice is if you're not sure, just switch.

Matrix is alright with clients like Element (X) and Cinny. But for me it's rather a (still somewhat lacking) Discord replacement. Maybe at some point with better clients this improves. The protocol already allows for a lot of stuff but most clients don't implement most functionality (yet).