Does your inbox cause you to be overwhelmed or stressed?
I like a clean inbox, preferably inbox zero. I don’t particularly appreciate leaving my inbox with any emails at all. Here are tips and tricks to stress less, sleep better, and clean out your inbox.
First, you do not have to respond to every email. I do this a lot too. Whether it’s a will do, or a Thank You, I usually respond to everything, but at some point, this isn’t productive. You have to decide whether or not it’s a good use of your time or whom you’re emailing back.
Next, Jot things down. If it’s a sentence you want to remember, don’t keep the whole email, just that sentence. Even better use Evernote or Onenote and copy and paste into a keepers file.
Use labels! I LOVE labels (NOTE: labels are sometimes called folders or tags in different email providers). You can use labels like the ones below to keep you organized and prioritize your tasks.
- Admin
- Clients
- Conversations
- Events
- Finances/Accounting
- Hold/On Hold
- Resources
- This Week
- To Do
- To Read
- Follow Up
- Take Action
- To File/To Sort
- Coupons
- Devotions
- Blog
- Family
- Friends
- Work
- Testimonials
- Newsletter Replies
- Courses
- Contact Form Submissions
- Logins
- Track
- Awaiting Reply
- Waiting
- Someday
- Immediate Action
- Tickler
- Admin
- Clients
- Conversations
- Events
- Finances/Accounting
- Hold/On Hold
- Resources
- This Week
- To Do
- To Read
- Follow Up
- Take Action
- To File/To Sort
- Coupons
- Devotions
- Blog
- Family
- Friends
- Work
- Testimonials
- Newsletter Replies
- Courses
- Contact Form Submissions
- Logins
- Track
- Awaiting Reply
- Waiting
- Someday
- Immediate Action
- Tickler
Don’t wait if you know you’re not going to read an email or have no interest in it – Delete it, just get rid of it.
Lastly, have a routine. If you leave your inbox up all the time and stop working every time an email comes in, you are cutting down on your productivity.
Block times on your calendar to check your email. (NOTE: Some refer to this as batching) I recommend it at the beginning of the day, before lunch, and at the end of the day. When you check your emails, delete junk and file emails you won’t need.
Then follow the two-minute rule. Take care of it if it takes you less than two minutes. NOTE: This productivity tip will help you lower the number of emails on your to-do list.
People also talk about O.H.I.O – Only Handle It Once. I usually read an email more than once before responding if it’s going to take me a few minutes or if I have to log in to a website. So for me, O.H.I.O doesn’t work.
Find out what time of day works best for you and block that time for your emails. I used to worry about missing a critical or urgent email. I soon realized that if it is genuinely urgent and the person emailing you doesn’t hear back from you quickly enough, they will text or call. Just remember when you want to check your emails between your blocked-off times.
Good luck!
(Updated February 2023)
Website Specialist