I keep my inbox at ZERO. I despise most email.
That’s right, I try to clear as much crap out of there as humanely possible so I can stare at the serenity of an empty inbox. So what’s the deal? Is this actually possible? Well sort-of and it’s definitely something I aim for everyday. Having my inbox at zero doesn’t mean I have nothing to do. I create to-do lists and action items so each little piece of email is taken care of and moved off my responsibilites list. This is how I get my email under control:
1) Delete, delete, delete! – The first thing I do when I open my three different inboxes is that I delete emails that are junk, spam or do not require a response. I get about 40-50 pitches a day, and if I spent time replying and declining to every single pitch or invite – that’s an hour of my day GONE. Make that 5 hours a week and I’m toast when it comes to productivity. Go into your inbox and delete any confirmation emails like ‘thanks again’ or ‘got it’ that don’t require any sort of response. Clear out that clutter!
2) Unsubscribe – While you’re deleting, get in the habit of unsubscribing from any unwanted emails, newsletters or brand updates. The only way to get your email under control is get to the root of the problem.
3) Respond to Any Email that Will Take Less Than ONE Minute – This is a good trick I learned from another blogger. Do not spend time reading and re-reading an email and trying to craft the perfect response. SAVVE your time, read it once and go ahead and reply to any email that takes less than ONE minute to respond to and then delete it. Using that one minute to respond is better than spending 4-5 minutes re-reading it every time you open your inbox.
4) Take Action – Now look at your inbox. Which items are left that require an ‘action’ or a follow-up? Take the easiest ‘action’ items in your inbox and get this stuff off your plate! If someone requires a few stats or has questions to something I need to dig deeper for but won’t take me more than 30 minutes to do – I do these first and then delete! It’s done.
5) Create a Follow-up Folder – Is there an email in your inbox you can’t respond to because you’re waiting on a response? Create a follow-up folder and file it there. Check this folder at the end of everyday and see if you received the answers you were waiting for in order to respond. If not, follow-up again.
6) Create a Confirmations Folder – Don’t let confirmation emails for events, travel bookings and social stuff sit in your inbox. Put the dates/times into your calendar – I use this one and file these confirmations into a dedicated folder. That way you can pop-in here quickly to pull up your confirmations when you fly, check-in to a hotel or show up at an event to pick-up tickets.
7) Have a To-Do List – I have a to-do list but I’m very protective of what I put on. If an email requires a long action item, I schedule it into my calendar of when it needs to get done. If the action item needs to get done right away, it goes on my to-do list.
8) Batch Check + Respond Your Email – Try not to go crazy checking your email all day. For my longer to-dos and action items, I let them pile up and I sit down for 30 minutes to an hour and respond to everything at once.
What are your tips and tricks for getting your email and inbox under control?
The post How-To Get Your Email Under Control appeared first on This Beautiful Day.
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