Overwhelmed By Email? 6 Tips For Organizing Your Inbox

Posted on December 30, 2007 - Filed Under Self Improvement |

1. First and foremost, you need to change your mindset about the purpose of your in-box. An in-box is “a box or tray for holding incoming mail or a computer folder devoted to incoming e-mail”. We are going to redefine as “a location for temporarily holding incoming mail until you are able to process it”. The in-box should not be a ‘forever home’ for your incoming mail (paper or email). It is an intermediate step in an effective email (or paper) management system.

2. Create email folders. Email folders will help you keep your in-box down to zero. The first time you sit down to process your email, let your ‘next action’ determine the labels for your new folders. See the steps below.

3. The integral piece that is often missing is in-box processing. This process consists of all of the possible outcomes or decisions that can be made on incoming mail. The decisions are the same ones I referred to in my June Ezine for paper or email: Do it now, Do it later, Delegate, Toss it, File it.

Do it now- If you have determined that you can take care of something in 2 minutes or less, leave it until you are done processing the entire in-box.

Do it later- When will you do this later? Remember, later is not a time of day or day of week- you must schedule time to take care of it. One option is to create email folders for tasks such as To call, To email, To research, etc. and move appropriate emails from your in-box to these folders. Then, when you have dedicated time for phone calls you can work your way through the To Call folder, etc.

Delegate- Are you usually delegating to the same individual? If so, create a folder with their name on it. If not, you may just want to create a general ‘Delegate’ folder. After you have forwarded the email to your delegate, move it to the appropriate delegate folder.

Toss it- Be generous with your delete key. Most of the emails we receive we never refer to again- experts say it’s around 80% and I believe it because I see it in every facet of life and what we keep. If you can find the information elsewhere, delete it. If it contains details you need such as contact info, transfer that information to your address book or contact management system, then delete it. If it contains event information, transfer it directly to your calendar, then delete it. When the event arrives, I guarantee you will be thrilled that you know just where to find the info you need. Many follow the school of thought that says storage is inexpensive so just file it, but a little time investment up front will help you be more productive in the long run.

File it- If you are fearful of deleting something you may need, file it into a monthly folder (within a category, if necessary, depending on the volume of email). If you refer to the info, move it to the most current folder and on a regular basis, whether monthly, quarterly, or annually, purge the oldest monthly file. Remember, in order to stay organized, you need to have a method for letting go of what is no longer useful or needed. This information lends to clutter and makes it much more difficult to find what is useful or necessary.

4. Next, limit the number of times you check email throughout the day. Multitasking is all the rage- the more we can do at once the better, right? WRONG! If you are doing too many things at once it is difficult to be fully present and focused on any one task. Have you heard the saying “Jack of all trades, master of none”? Checking email at scheduled times throughout the day will make you more productive. And turn off that email notification- how distracting!

5. Use your filters- Many e-mail programs have rules or filters you can apply to move messages to a designated folder automatically. I would recommend setting up rules for dealing with Ezines, newsletters, and other subscription or reading material. This way, you know just where to go when you have time to dedicate to reading them.

6. Finally, schedule uninterrupted time for processing every day (multiple times per day, if necessary). If you have set times dedicated to processing your in-box, you will feel more confident in not dealing with each one as they come in. This will help you to be more productive.

Checking e-mail constantly can be a very difficult habit to break. Once you have done this several times, you will see the value in getting it done everyday.

Lauren Halagarda is a Certified Professional Organizer® and Jacksonville, NC-based member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), it’s local North Carolina Chapter and currently serves as the NAPO Website Chairperson. Her local involvement includes the Jacksonville/Onslow Chamber of Commerce and Jacksonville Chapter (In-formation) of Business Network International (BNI).

To ask her a question or find out more information on organizing your belongings, space or time, e-mail Info@2OrganizeU.com or visit The Organization Connection web site at http://www.2OrganizeU.com You can sign up for her FREE organizing eZine simply by visiting her website: http://www.2OrganizeU.com

Tags: email management system, inbox, organize, organizing email, overwhelmed by email, processing email

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