About a week ago, I almost admitted defeat to my email. I'm sure you know the feeling, where you can't possibly wade through the new emails coming through fast enough and you feel like you aren't getting a thing accomplished because of it. My email inbox contains 4,037 emails. This doesn't include the 75+ folders that I have on the sidebar that contain even more email. I was more than ready to concede to the monster my email had become.
Instead, I decided to fight back. It was time to remember the rules I'd learned long ago about managing an over-the-top inbox. In case you are suffering from the same malaise, here is the process I intend to take this week to clean up my unruly mess and push back that monster.
Set up Filters
Most email programs allow you to create rules that will tell an email to go into a specific folder rather than direct into your inbox. I have filters set up for the loops I belong to, so these emails go into a "My Loops" folder. It keeps them from my inbox and I know when I have five minutes to read something, I can go skim that folder and all my loops are in one place.
I also have filters set up for business emails, this way if I need to find something, it's in one folder and not mixed in with the other four thousand emails hanging around my inbox.
Need to know how to create a filter? Check your mail program's help system for "creating rules" or "filters." I use Outlook, so it's as easy as right-clicking an email and choosing "Create rule."
Separate on First Glance
For the email that does come through the inbox, I separate at first glance items that need action versus items that are reference or readable at later times. I created a folder called "To Do, Action and Followup" and this folder has far less emails than my inbox. So when I need to run through my list of actionable emails, they are all in one place.
If I don't do this, when it comes time to finding that one email with that one task, it can take an hour to wade through the mess just to find it. (Email is supposed to make my life easier, not more difficult, right?)
Delete, Delete, Delete or Delegate to a Folder
By far, this is my weakness. I don't delete emails and I should. It would mean I'd probably have far, far less than four thousand emails in my inbox. Eventually, I will have to go through them. Had I done this as they come through, it would have saved time.
After the fact, my method is usually to sort by sender name. I can easily move client emails into their folders and delete ones that are junk. If I think I'll need it later, move it into a folder. If it's really important information, I usually send it to my OneNote notebook.
Clean House
A simple task is to empty the trash and the junk folder. Then, go through the Sent folder and delete the items I don't need there. If it's a reply I think I want, I will often move that into a folder as well. The upside of this is that it will make finding something I need far easier.
Not Letting My Inbox Control Me
Now, after I do all of those things this week, my email will be much easier to deal with. However, if I don't apply some basic rules every day, my email can make functioning or getting work done impossible. So rather than let it manage me, I've decided to manage my email:
Schedule Time for Email — and nothing else.
I have scheduled myself one hour in the morning and one hour at the end of the work day to deal with email, inbound and outbound. That time is email alone, I organize, I reply, I answer…and nothing else. If it takes less than an hour, then I move on to the day's work. But I think the separation of time is really important to keep my mind focused.
When you're doing the "else", you aren't doing email.
When I'm not in that time frame, my email is actually closed. I have to do this, or I'll constantly see the pop ups in the corner telling me what email comes through. The morning hour is to deal with emails that need immediate address (or filtering.) The later hour is to deal with the work I've done and any correspondence that requires as well as keep track of items in my To Do, Action and Followup folder.
If I'm ruthless about following my own rules every day, I might be able to manage my email. What about you? How much time does your email take every day? How do you manage the amount of email you get? Please, share your secrets!
Jeannie Ruesch
http://www.jeannieruesch.com
SOMETHING ABOUT HER
Available April 10, 2009 by The Wild Rose Press
~ "A wonderful debut!" ~NYTimes bestselling author Gaelen Foley
~ "A wonderful, romantic story, with engaging characters and an enjoyable storyline. I look forward to her next book." ~Audrey, co-owner of BookLovers Bookstore, Sacramento, CA
8 comments
Wow. And I thought having 500+ in one of my addresses was bad. I need folders/filters to wrangle my different emails and use them. Gmail actually does a good job of feeding them all into one central location. I try to delete the emails I read and don’t need for further reference. Most of the loop emails, I can track back to the loops. Some, I keep in specific folders by subject so I don’t have to go back and find them on the loop. When I’m procrastinating, I’ll go back through my two main non-gmail addresses (one personal, one writing related) and delete what’s been read and dealt with.
Your idea of scheduling time for email tasks is a good one! I start my day with email, followed by blogs, and then I settle in to deal with writing tasks. At some point, I’ll take a break and go delete emails that stacked up in the non-open addresses. Yes. I know I can set them up to delete “read” emails but I’d rather do it by hand, sorting into folders at each address. Probably labor intensive but it works for me and I have the chance to decide if I really meant to delete that email after all. Good spam filters are a necessity, too! Time involved? Anywhere from ten minutes to an hour (or longer if an email needs a detailed response).
Great post, Jeanne, and a good way to start the week!
Hi Silver, Thanks for adding your process to the mix! Email is such a beast sometimes, and it’s easy to get sucked into it. But I find the more I have, the more I do — and I’m learning to be strict about my scheduled time.
Wow an double wow Jeannie, 4,000 emails. Yikes and I think 504 is bad. After being in Arizona for a month and living entirely different than we do at home I’ve made some goals of downsizing around here so it isn’t so busy. I simply need to clean out a lot of “stuff”. Didn’t think about emails but…. I’m going to start separating it a first glance and get this mess cleaned up. Deleting instead of saving them for I don’t know what is going to help a lot.
Jeannie, I want you to know that I went and cleared out over 300 emails from one addy this afternoon. Thanks for the *nudge* – lol!
Oh thank you Jeannie, thank you! I have my main email account and then my pen name account. Since I got my contract I joined a bunch of Red Rose yahoo groups and created my own and I’m absolutely swamped because I’m in other loops on the other account too. Then I’m going to have to join several others for promoting. When you add this to all the social networking sites I check multiple times a day it gets insane. I’m going to have to learn to limit myself and not check everything every ten minutes. I’m going to run off and try and find filters right now.
Hi Lavada — Email always seems so benign until you realize how much time you spend on it. And for me, it’s the main form of communication in everything I do. I think your goals of downsizing are great ones.
Silver!!! That’s great. Now if only I could follow my own advice. I’m doing great at the “separate at first glance” but going through 4000+ emails just scares me too much right now. lol
Hey Honoria, did you filter? How is it working? I found that I to remember to check the sidebars, and once I got in that groove, it’s great. 🙂