Organize + Energize: 8 Ways to Organize Your Email Inbox
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
How many unopened emails are sitting in your inbox? How many do you have that are opened, but still sitting in the box? So many people are stressed out by this! Their inboxes are as cluttered as their desks. If you’re working in a disorganized office without any filing systems in place, my suggestion would be to tackle the disorganization in your office first and then move on to organizing emails. You may find that once you physically get organized, it’s going to be very easy to wrap your head around the process to organize your emails. Think of your email as you would think of your desk. How do you feel when your desk is cluttered with paper? Some if it is junk, some is important and other items get lost? It’s time to get a handle on your emails and make a plan to declutter and organize your email inbox.
Here are 8 tips to help in this process:
Get rid of the backlog. Your inbox should be used as a to-do list. There shouldn’t be anything in your inbox that doesn’t need attention. Clean out your inbox and use your folders (see below) in a productive manner.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTCreate a process for incoming emails. Tackle your inbox just like you would tackle paper that arrives in your office. Have a procedure and a working system to process every email that arrives in your inbox. Look at it, touch it and take care of it.
Delete. If the email isn’t useful to you and you don’t need to refer to it again, don’t let it clog up your inbox. Delete it immediately.
Unsubscribe. You know you have to do this. There are emails you consistently receive that you’re not interested in, but choose to still have them arrive in your inbox. Starting today, any emails that you receive that are no longer useful to you, instead of deleting them, open them and click unsubscribe.
Utilize folders. You have files in your file drawers and working systems for the drawers. Create the same filing system in your inbox. Create folders for categories that are used often. You know what you work with, so create the categories based off of that. Once a year, make a plan to purge these folders. Just as you would file a piece of paper that arrives on your desk, do the same with the email. If you don’t have time to read an email, but you want to get to it at a later date, utilize the folders and file it away. Don’t leave it hanging around in your in box. When you have time, go to your file and refer to it.
Print out the important ones. If you have an important email that needs attention and you know it will get lost in your inbox, print it out and attach it to your to-do list. There is nothing wrong with printing an email if it’s going to remind you to do something.
Sending emails. You’re now organized with your emails, but what about sending emails? A pet peeve of mine is if somebody hits “reply all” to the entire group if it’s not necessary. If you’re hitting “reply all” to an email that nobody else cares about except the person you’re sending it to, think before you hit “reply all.”
Pick up the phone. Sometimes it’s easier to pick up the phone. If you keep going back and forth with the person, it may be more efficient and productive of you to just pick up the phone, talk, and be done with the conversation instead of sending multiple emails.
A disorganized email inbox will affect you the same way your physical clutter and disorganization will affect you. I hear too many people voicing their opinion about how their emails stress them out. Tackle the physical disorganization in your office first and then move on to decluttering and organizing your emails. Make a plan today, tackle it, and free yourself from the stress. Don’t make the process more difficult than it has to be. If it’s important enough to you, then you’ll make it a priority to tackle them and then manage them.
Kristin Carcieri-MacRae, is an organizing & efficiency expert and owner of Organizing in RI. Kristin teaches her clients that living an organized lifestyle will save them time and money, decrease their stress levels and help them become more efficient and productive. Her articles have been published in local and national magazines. Kristin's CD, Organizing Basics, is a 1-hour guide for the person who wants to get organized but doesn't know where to begin. She is also available for organizing workshops.
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