Inbox Overflow
Do you ever appreciate the peace of an empty inbox? Or is your inbox always overflowing with stressful messages?
Time to restore some order in our inboxes today!
- Make a new folder. Name it whatever you like, but this folder will be the place you immediately file all emails that require action from you.
- Now go through your most recent emails and place as many as 20 emails in this action folder. These are the important emails that require some kind of action from you.
- Now make another folder. Call this folder a “holding” folder. This is where everything else that is currently in your inbox goes right now. Don’t worry – you’ll get to these…but we’re putting them away where they won’t stress you out for the moment.
- NOW…promise yourself that you are going to file your emails as they come in. Here are your choices for processing your emails:
Delete them immediately
Deal with them immediately – these are the emails that require a 2 sentence response you can do it less than two minutes.
File them in your action folder
File them in your holding folder
Make a “reading” folder if you get a lot of newsletters. Place your reading emails in this folder and make it a point to get back to them and read them. Then delete them!
Wondering how to control the flood and reduce it?
- Ruthlessly unsubscribe to emails you don’t read and don’t want.
- Reduce the number of emails you send (and you’ll get fewer emails back!)
- Reduce the length of emails you send
- Make email rules so your emails get directed into the folders you desire. Make junk rules to delete the junk so you don’t even see it.
Oh…and I did promise! Â The emails in your holding folder. Start to go through them a few at a time and delete the emails you don’t need. You can also do a mass delete unless you are afraid you might miss something important. Spend five minutes at a time going through these old emails and you’ll probably be through them in less than a week. Then promise yourself…NEVER AGAIN!
