Between filtering spam, creating the right replies, and controlling messages that require follow-up, staying on top of your inbox can feel like a job in itself. That’s why we chose the brains of professionals who have discovered the secret to efficient and organized inboxes, despite receiving hundreds of emails a day. because having a system in place can help you conquer even the most stubborn inbox.
1. keep only emails that require immediate action in your inbox
Inbox zero may be too lofty a goal, but by being ruthless with the messages that take up space in your inbox, you can get pretty close.
“Most days, my email inbox has fewer than 25 messages. this is intentional. I want to be able to open my inbox and immediately see what is most urgent and requires a response,” says leigh ann newman, senior program manager at an international government consulting firm. “This habit pushes me to take action on items in an extremely timely manner.”
It’s not uncommon for Newman to receive, in the span of a few hours, more than 100 emails, many of which are urgent and involve high-level managers. In 2008, he was given the opportunity to start from scratch when his company switched to a new email system during an acquisition. “It was like spring cleaning for my inbox. and since then I just can’t function with an inbox flooded with unanswered emails,” he says.
2. create a “hold folder” for emails pending action
so where do emails go if not your inbox? create a “hold folder” for emails that require someone else’s action before you can reply. “This is a huge time saver,” says darcy miller, workplace expert and founder of pin and pivot, who for many years received more than 150 emails a day. “That way those emails don’t pile up in your inbox and it’s a great place to look each day or week to remind yourself what projects are still pending.”
He learned this trick the hard way when, during the first year of his first job, he couldn’t find the email attachment he needed. “I spent half a day looking for that email, among the thousands of emails that were in my inbox at the time,” she says. “I swore that from then on I would take control of my inbox!”
3. make subfolders or tags your new bff
In general, inbox experts recommend creating an easy-to-decipher system of subfolders or labels. Nate Masterson, CEO of Mapleholistics, estimates that he receives more than 250 emails some days, so organization is paramount. “Email labels are your friend,” he advises. “Use them to group together important email threads, so when you need to see something for reference, you can easily do so.”
newman says his tags include topics others may have questions about, support for decisions he’s made, and reference materials for future business needs. “I have dozens of subfolders and hundreds of emails on file for reference,” he says. “I can find what I need seconds after a request because I know where it is stored and how to locate it quickly.”
4. set rules or filters for inbox
many email providers allow you to set up inbox rules or filters that will act for you and can help you quickly categorize emails without taxing your brainpower.
To stay on top of the torrent of 150 emails arriving at her every day, Rachel Neill, CEO of Carex Consulting Group, takes advantage of Outlook’s rules features. “I have rules set up that put emails in different folders, color codes, and priorities based on sender,” she says. then, at the end of the day, she will quickly search for anything that has been lost. “The rules help make sure I’m constantly monitoring and blocking out the noise. this helps me keep clutter to a minimum.”
5. use your calendar to keep track of emails that require follow-up
Because some emails may require more than a simple response, newman recommends adding them to your calendar. “if I receive an email that requires not only an immediate response, but also some type of follow-up action, I move the email to a designated subfolder and place a reminder on my calendar that includes the location of the folder and the date it is due. tracking is done. necessary,” she says.
uses microsoft outlook, which allows access to the outlook calendar, but you can also do it in gmail. just click the “more” button on the toolbar and select “create event”.
6. don’t let spam languish in your inbox
Feel like you’re playing whack-a-mole with promotional emails? be quick with the unsubscribe button. Davis Siksnans, CEO and founder of Printful, uses a three strikes rule for promotional emails and newsletters. the third time you delete a newsletter or promotional email from a specific sender, you unsubscribe from the list.
7. create templates for your login responses
Adapting a different response for each email can be a huge waste of time. If you find yourself sending the same type of email over and over again, you may benefit from keeping a few stock replies in your drafts that you can easily reuse.
betsy fein, president of professional organization company clutterbusters, has frequently asked questions that can be addressed with closed and loaded answers. “I have pre-written emails that I can modify and that I send to emails that ask the same thing, like ‘tell me about your services’ or ‘how do I make an appointment?'”
If you don’t want to do this by hand, try the mixmax gmail plugin or go into your settings and enable canned responses. (click the gear at the top right of your inbox, choose “settings” from the dropdown menu, choose the “advanced” tab, and press “enable” next to “canned responses”). this will allow you to save templated responses.
8. set aside blocks of time to check email and stick to it
You probably wouldn’t leave your schedule open for meetings of unspecified times and durations throughout the day, so why give email free rein to intrude on your day?
“I don’t leave my email open all day; I set specific times during the day to go through each email and carefully respond, file, or save for later. This way, I don’t multitask and I can read all my emails faster because I’m really focused on the task at hand,” says David Mitroff, Business Consultant. “I recommend that people start with three different half-hour blocks a day to read and respond to their emails and keep their inbox closed for the rest of the day and adjust as needed from there.”
In addition to using time blocking to stay on top of daily emails, justin lavelle, director of communications at beenverified, recommends setting aside time once a week for inbox maintenance. “Pick a time each week to maintain your inbox. protect the time like you would any other important meeting and get organized,” she suggests. “eliminate the irrelevant, archive the complete, and prioritize the to-do list.”
9. disable email notifications
Even if you’ve resigned yourself to only checking email in pre-designated blocks, the siren song of your inbox notification may be too great a temptation to resist. If that’s the case, the solution is simple: turn off your notifications. “If you work in blocks of time, you’ll never go more than a couple of hours without checking your emails,” Miller says. “Turn off notifications as they will distract you from what you are currently doing on your desktop.”
You can hold yourself accountable by using boomerang’s inbox pause feature. siksnans only allow email to arrive twice a day at specific times when you can devote your attention to them.
10. squeezes meaningless email tasks during idle time
Make sure email accounts are synced with your phone and use downtime for a quick inbox cleanup. “A lot of the messages I get don’t require direct action,” says Ben Taylor, founder of HomeWorkingClub.com. “spam can be deleted, other stuff can be archived, and you can deal with a lot of these all by yourself while standing in a two-minute supermarket queue.”