Save Your Sanity! 5 Inbox Organization Tips
Cartoonist, illustrator, and children’s author Sir Quentin Blake once said, “I have an assistant who’s very good at email, so I don’t struggle with it.” For those who can’t afford to hire an assistant, handling the deluge daily of emails can be a challenging task. Sometimes, it seems an impossible chore to manage all of your email correspondences with all the messages a person receives from their friends, family, and work, not to mention the huge amount of spam and marketing emails a person receives in any given day.
However, these five inbox organization tips will save you time as well as your sanity.
Use the Two Minute Rule
One of the easiest ways to keep your email inbox clutter-free is to use the two minute rule. The rule states:
If it takes less than two minutes, then do it now.
If you can respond to an email quickly and efficiently, why wait? On the other hand, if a long reply is needed, push it to either the end of the day or right before lunch.
Delete It
Speaking of deleting emails, get used to it. One surefire way to keep your inbox organized is deleting all of the emails you don’t need. This includes email marketing messages, spam, old emails, and unneeded correspondence. While not every old email in your inbox needs to be deleted, go through your inbox with a fine-toothed comb to get rid of unimportant, useless junk.
A good rule to implement for your inbox is to delete any message that is 30 days or older that does not contain important information.
Set Up Filters
Called “rules” in Outlook and Apple Mail, email users should set up filters for their inbox (see instructions for GMail users here). Establishing filters/rules for your inbox is a guaranteed method for keep your inbox organized and free from superfluous messages. Users can set up filters/rules to auto-respond, immediately delete, and instantly label messages. Basically, filters/rules do the majority of inbox organization for you before you’ve had your first cup of coffee in the morning.
Put Apps To Work
There are numerous email inbox apps to choose from but only a few really help organize your electronic messages. For example, UnRoll.Me lets users instantly unsubscribe from email blasts and also synthasizes messages from businesses and services into one daily digest email.
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GMail and Outlook users can try Boomerang, an app that lets you schedule emails and set up reminders for emails that need responses or action. Depending on your inbox organization needs, there is certainly an app out there that can assist you.
Keep It Simple, Silly
Emails should be short and to-the-point. Keep your emails concise and clear, never longer than three paragraphs. In regards to inbox organization, you will find your email communications are easier to follow and far more succinct if you keep your correspondence simple. When it comes to email, less is truly more.