Tips to managing an effective inbox
During our time working with new clients, we have seen inboxes in excess of 5000 unread emails!
Your inbox can be a breeding ground for unwanted, unnecessary emails and the longer it is left in caotic state, the worse the problem gets. Staying on top of it can be a labourious task! The key is discipline and a little bit of leg work at the start to get you going.
To help you out, here are some tips so you can manage your ever growing inbox:
Our top tips to managing your inbox quickly and effectively:
Allocatate time in your day to go through your emails.
Even 20 minutes a day will make a huge difference. Block the time out in your calendar and make it a time when you are less likely to get any distractions, my time is as soon as I get up over a steaming cup of black coffee. The key is to be consistent.
Create labels and folders.
Create easy to understand labels and folders. Move anything that isn’t relevant for that day, for your information only or for things that you need to keep to refer to at a later date.
Ask yourself, do I need to deal with this or should I forward it on.
If you have the luxury of having a team of people working for you, the chances are you pay you someone to do what is being asked of you. If you work alone, try outsourcing - it will change your life!
Create Rules
Rules are a great way to automatically manage your inbox for you. If you get daily updates or auto notifications from various different sources, create a rule so these types of messages go straight to the folder you created in tip 2.
Unsubscribe!!!
If you are constantly getting boombarded from mailing lists and you don’t find the content useful, UNSUBSCRIBE. Just bear in mind, in some instanes, it can take a while for the mailing list to be updated so you may carry on receiving them for a few weeks after.
Don’t read and move on - use the 1 touch method
If you have opened an email and need to act, act straight away. Take the action, forward it on or reply and move on. Tip - if you have decided to allocate your daily email check time out of hours, you might want to put a little message in your email signature to say so. Here are some examples:
“I choose to work flexibly & send emails outside normal office hours. No need to respond to my emails outside yours.”
“Due to my new family/work life schedule crossover, you may receive emails from me outside of normal work hours. Please do not feel any pressure to respond outside of your own work schedule.”
“My work day may look different than your work day. Please do not feel obligated to respond out of your normal working hours.”
Try this for a month and see what a difference it makes. If you are still having trouble, get in touch. We get awards from our clients for the work we do!!!
