Ever see the notification when your email box is empty? There are no inbox numbers ticking up into the thousands. In Outlook it says, “We didn’t find anything to show here.” And no stress.
One of the most popular questions I receive in training is, “What can I do about my email inbox? It’s overwhelming. There are too many emails. It’s a stress and it’s a mess.” To help with that, here are five actions you can take and a bonus tip at the end.
Create a plan — Some of my clients have created a very important folder where they drag the emails that need a response in 24 or 48 hours. Then work on those first before going through less important emails.
Unsubscribe — We look at all the emails that they could unsubscribe to. What emails do you scroll through that you never read? Yes, those! Unsubscribe to those.
Create Rules-“But what if that email is a newsletter from a client. I can’t unsubscribe!” Maybe not and what you can do is create a rule to send the newsletter to a folder. This way it doesn’t hit your inbox.
Create a goal — one like “I will reduce my incoming email by 30%.” See the two tips above on ways to accomplish that.
Turn off the sound — The ding of every email coming in is a distraction. Turn the pop up windows and notifications in Outlook off. As a Gmail user make sure to close the tab.
Learn from your mistakes — Spend a whole afternoon working on email? Never get to those important projects because email takes to much of your time? Figure out ways you can shift your work habits to better support your goals and vision instead of working in the day to day by the seat of your pants.
How can you do that? Contact me today to set up a free 30 minute consultation. Call 602-677-8275 or email [email protected].
Margo Crawford is a Productivity Coach and Professional Organizer with Wave Productivity. She works with entrepreneurs, small business owners and business professionals to help them get more focused, organized and productive in their workplace. She coaches by phone throughout the country, and in person in Phoenix, Providence and Boston . If you want to have better email management-Call 602-677-8275 or email [email protected].