Your emails are piling up, stacking high… you can’t seem to get ahead. Perhaps it’s time for some decluttering and to establish a solid organization. In 2022, nearly 333.2 billion emails were sent daily worldwide. That’s a lot of email to manage! Therefore, having effective inbox management is essential!
The first step to good organization starts with creating folders, as simple as it may seem. Let your imagination run wild. How do you want to categorize/find your emails? Whether it’s by client, supplier, urgency level, or even status, the possibilities are endless. It’s up to you to figure out which kind of classification suits you best!
For example, you can name your folders as follows:
- Today: Anything requiring a same-day response (to be updated daily)
- This Week: Anything needing a response by the end of the week
- Month/Quarter: Anything requiring a longer-term response
Alternatively, equally effective:
- Unread
- To Handle Urgent
- To Process
- Others
Tip: Sort your emails right away. We often have the habit of opening an email, reading its content, and then closing it to come back to later. This approach only doubles the processing time because you’ll likely have to read it again to respond. When managing your emails, think of it as a queue of people – one by one, process them completely (respond and categorize) before moving to the next. Leaving emails marked as “unread” only adds to the chaos in your inbox.
It’s highly recommended to set aside a specific time in your day for email management. It’s as simple as setting a daily reminder (except on weekends, of course!) in Outlook or Gmail. Responding to emails as soon as they arrive is not very productive. Allocate time in the morning, for example, to organize your inbox. After all, what’s worse than searching for a specific email in a cluttered inbox?
To avoid unnecessary clutter, you can also request not to be CC’d unless absolutely necessary. Conversely, also limit your group emails. The more recipients you add to your messages, the more you increase the number of emails received in return.
Don’t view email management as a chore. Learn to include this task in your daily routine. There’s nothing more satisfying than having a clean and healthy inbox!
Psst! Don’t forget that your accounts are linked on both your computer and your cell phone. What you do on your phone will also reflect on your computer.
