There are two aspects to sorting out your email inbox. One is cleaning out and categorizing the email you already have, and the second is managing new emails as they arrive. Here are 3 specific steps that will help you take control of your email, from my book, Time Management In an Instant: 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day
- Delete old messages you no longer need
Just because your computer has enough memory to store all your old email doesn’t mean you should. To take control of your inbox, first you need to clean house. The less trash in your inbox, the less time you’ll spend searching for what you do need. - Establish an email filing system
This will make it much easier to find old messages. One way is to set up email folders to mirror your physical work files. For example, if you generally reference your work by account name, set up your email folders by account name. If you generally reference by date, set up your folders by date. - Deal with every message that comes in, as it comes in.
Anything that sits too long will get lost in the crowd, drain your mental energy, and create more inbox clutter. Take one of the following actions as quickly as possible:- Reply. If the message sparks an action that can be done within 5 minutes or less, handle it now. Otherwise, flag it for action later or move the item to an established “pending” folder.
- File. If the appropriate file does not already exist, create whatever files you need so you can collect emails from the same source, subject, client, or project together.
- Delete. If the email is nonessential, get rid of it as quickly as you can.
- Forward. If the item in the email can or should be delegated to someone else, send it on its way ASAP. If you need to take action but also want to include someone else in the message, forward it now, not later.
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Thank you for these tips, Karen. I wonder if you have any ideas for reducing the amount of spam I get in my email? It seems like every time I place an order online, I get on more spammers’ lists.
Yes, we all suffer from that problem. Here are a few tips from my new book Email In An Instant. Many users find that web-based email accounts, such as Google’s Gmail, do a very efficient job of screening out spam and “learning” (from your actions) which messages to ditch in the future.
If you use an email client such as Microsoft Entourage or Apple Mail the chances are that they are only doing a so-so job of protecting you from spam because the spammers improve their technology faster than your program can learn. To beef up your spam filtering use a third party software such as SpamEater Pro for Windows or SpamSieve for the Mac.
Once you have set up your filing system, use the ‘message rules’ in your email program to sort incoming email automatically into those files.
I have been using MailWasher Free Spam Filter Software for years and it works beautifully. You can download it free from http://www.mailwasher.net/ MailWasher enables you to preview the emails on your server before downloading. You can delete, and/or bounce and/or blacklist senders. The software allows you to establish a list of friends addresses.
Taking care of the email as it comes into the box is a great idea. I try to do it and am usually successful. When I don’t handle the messages immediately the chance of my losing something of importance escalates!!!
Thanks for the tip, Lily – good one. I will check this out.