Three Simple Ways to Take Control of Your Email Inbox
With the number of emails that arrive in our inbox every day, it can all get a bit overwhelming, can’t it?
And just as you think you’re getting through them, more come flooding in – feels like they’re never ending.
If you’re of a certain age, you might remember the ‘good old days’ of the memo, or perhaps a letter arriving in the post. Didn’t it feel like a much slower pace of life back then? But I’m sure you’ll agree that no one really wants to go back to those days – remember all that filing and finding that elusive piece of paperwork, no search function in the archive room!
There’s no denying the many advantages to email communication, it’s just a case of working out how to get organised and keep on top of them. You’ll then no longer feel anxious about emails that you should have responded to. And you won’t find yourself reading and engaging with the same emails over and over again.
A few years ago, I listened to one of Michael Hyatt’s excellent podcasts. He spoke about how he became an “email ninja”. I learnt some great tips on managing your inbox that I’d like to share with you. If I’m honest, what I learnt that day was a bit of a game changer and I’ve never looked back.
Take control of your inbox:
1. Touch it once
These days, with so many different devices available to us, we can quickly check our emails wherever and whenever we want.
This is great but this level of super connectivity means that our inbox is always there and this can lead to you reading and re-reading emails over and over again, without actually taking any action.
What I do now is only touch an email once, rather than constantly scanning through emails.
Engage with it once and deal with it in some way – but be smart with you how you do this….
2. Get strategic with how you action your emails
Every single email that you receive will require some form of action.
You may just need to delete it – great, just hit that delete button.
Or, it may require you to read and respond to it.
Either way, if you don’t act upon each email there and then, they’ll quickly stack up and you’ll end up swamped.
So, always take action.
Delete what you don’t need such as spam or unwanted marketing emails, go and step further and ‘unsubscribe’.
And action what you need to. But, don’t worry, you don’t need to do this immediately as this can be added pressure that you just don’t need in your already busy day.
I like to use the two-minute rule – if dealing with the email is going to take you less than two minutes, just do it.
If it’s going to take longer than two minutes, then I schedule it in my ‘to do’ list. For this, I use our bespoke CRM Engine system – this helps me to stay organised and prioritise my tasks.
3. Archive messages – don’t file them
Once I’ve actioned an email, I archive it.
It’s a great feeling when you clear emails from your inbox. Not only do you get a satisfying feeling of accomplishment but an uncluttered inbox leaves you with an uncluttered mind – reducing your stress levels. It also helps you to have clear focus on the new emails coming in.
And when I say ‘archive it’, what I don’t mean is filing it away in a specific folder.
Let’s face it, filing systems get complicated – countless folders that are difficult to navigate. All that time organising emails adds up.
So, what’s the answer?
Just keep it simple, archive it into one folder and move onto your next task – it’s so quick and easy.
All email platforms are designed so you can easily search and retrieve messages, so let the technology do the hard work – you’ll always be able to quickly find it again.
There you have it – three simple ways in which you get organised and take control of your inbox:
- Touch it once.
- Get strategic with how you action your emails.
- Archive messages into one searchable folder – lose the complicated filing system.
Your emails will no longer be a source of stress.
They’ll become much more manageable and you’ll feel better as a result.
No more fear of overlooking important messages.
Follow these rules and you’ll have an empty inbox at the end of the day – and perhaps more importantly, you’ll have peace of mind, knowing that every message has been dealt with.
If you’d like to learn more about the CRM Engine system that I use to manage my workload, please just get in touch – it’s a bespoke system that’s tailored to meet your needs.
Author : Mary Mason
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash