YIKES! Another day at your computer. How many emails are there in your inbox?
How do you feel when you open your email inbox? Are you in a state of abundance, fear, or, after measuring the footprints, are you just plain ready to run for the hills?
If you have more than 25 unopened emails in your inbox, now is the time to tame, cage, or slay this monster!
There are only 4 things you should do with new email:
TAKE ACTION—If you can act on the email in a few minutes or less—reply, forward, attach a file, make a note, find a file, change a document, etc., do so.
FLAG/STAR/DEFER—Do you need more time to address the issue in the email? Perhaps you don’t have the information, time, or resources to answer the request in a few minutes, you can flag it for later.
A WORD TO THE WISE—Avoid using this as a method of procrastination. It is apparent that you want to improve your management of email (because you have read this far). It’s time to make immediate action a habit! Use this option as a last resort. You want as few flagged emails as possible.
- If you must flag/star/defer, schedule it by putting the task on your calendar for a future date.
- Flag it for the due date
- Move it to a TO DO email folder in which you review and take action regularly
FILE—If no action is needed, but you think you need the email for reference, file it in a designated folder.
DELETE OR ARCHIVE—If no action is needed and you don’t need the email for reference delete or archive it.
LOTSA’ SQUATCHES?
- START WITH THE MOST RECENT EMAIL—You may found that earlier issues have already been resolved, so don’t waste time on things that change or take care of themselves. GENIUS POINT: If you find an email with a trail of previous emails, you can deal with the latest, run a search of your inbox for that subject, and delete or archive all the previous ones with a single click.
- PROCESS SIMILAR EMAILS TOGETHER—Sort your email by sender and topic. If you tackle all the emails together, you will move through the emails faster and with more focus.
- LIMIT YOUR TIME—It’s best to limit yourself to a certain amount of time for taming your inbox. If you work at it for too long, you may get weary and indecisive. Thirty minute intervals are optimal for making substantial progress.
- BE RUTHLESS—Email excess can be a challenging issue, but you must be diligent!
- Unsubscribe freely (When you unsubscribe, if there is an area to provide the reason for your “unsubscribe”, please gracefully do so. Oh and…please don’t unsubscribe to my newsletter. 🙂
- Reply only when needed (when making a request, “thank you in advance” takes care of the followup “thank you” email. Also, do you have send a “You’re Welcome” to every “Thank You”?)
Find a way to reward yourself after chasing bigfoot your email box. You deserve it!