Starting the year on the right path with inbox management tips and tricks. Taking the time now to complete an inbox detox will set you up for the year ahead.
With the start of the new year, I can just imagine how many people are getting back to their computers and dreading opening up their email inboxes!
A poorly managed inbox leads to stress, unproductive time, delays and even embarrassment when you speak to someone and you have not read their email from 2 weeks ago.
The best way to get into the right mindset for the new year is to detox your inbox and set yourself up to manage and maintain it well throughout the year.
Inbox Detox
Set the time aside now early in the year to clear, organise and file all of the emails in your inbox whilst setting up the below items to ensure a productive and well organised inbox for 2020 to support you rather than hinder you!
Prepare for Ongoing Management & Maintenance
Knowing and understanding that not all emails are important is the first place to start. Research shows that not all emails are created equal with 20% of your emails estimated to take up 80% of your time. Clearing out the clutter and being organised will help you focus on what’s truly important and urgent.
Create Folders, Labels / Categories & Priority Tags
Create useful folders that work for you to file and find emails easily. This could be by project, department or other – filing solutions are unique to each person and business. Do not use the “deleted” folder to store everything – if it accidentally clears you will lose all emails contained within.
The use of labels, categories and tags will assist you being able to see at a quick glance what needs to happen when and for what project!
Schedule time to be “in” your inbox
This might sound a bit strange but by scheduling time to be “in” your inbox, you are scheduling time to give those emails your undivided attention. By focusing during this time and getting through, organising and prioritising what has come in you can then switch off notifications and close your inbox so that when you are in meetings or working on other tasks you are not distracted by emails that are coming in and popping up.
If something is truly urgent the matter will not be dealt with just in email. The sender will do whatever it takes to find you and speak with you.
By actively scheduling time you can avoid absentmindedly scrolling through your inbox on your phone when you should be recharging or spending time with family.
Take action on all emails immediately using the 4 “D’s”
Do – if it takes less than 2 minutes to reply or file the email then do it!
Defer – if the email requires some consideration defer it to later!
Delegate – delegate the matter to someone more suited to completing the task!
Delete – if the email does not need to be kept for future reference then simply delete it!
Hit unsubscribe if value isn’t added
Over time you will have subscribed to a vast amount of newsletters, sales updates, real estate notifications, any number of things really and once they have past their usefulness or relevance to your day to day business it is time to unsubscribe and remove the clutter. Taking the time now to go through and consciously review what is providing you with quality content will free up your time throughout the year by avoiding unnecessary “junk”.
Create rules for emails that occur frequently
If you receive frequent emails that are for reference at a later date or useful subscriptions that are not pertinent to your daily tasks, create a rule for these emails, with routine specific headings or always from the same sender, to be automatically filed for your review when required.
Take action today to save your sanity later!
If you don’t feel that you have the time or energy to put into an inbox detox today then get in touch with me and we can discuss the one off and ongoing packages I have available to set you up for success in your inbox this year!
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