1. Quick Pass Delete or File. You know this one, but it's worth a refresher! Sort by sender, subject, date, attachments, categories, etc... to quickly identify the messages you can delete without taking any other action. This includes group email strings where you can read through the whole conversation in the latest message, so you can delete the earlier ones. This also includes deleting messages you've already handled, and moving others to folders for storage or later action. Try it: set a timer for 20 minutes and see how many you can clear out...Go!
2. Move mail items. Move mail messages to Tasks or to the Calendar if you want to be reminded or block out some time. Careful! Do not to accidentally copy the message: move the message if your program allows -OR copy/paste the text and delete the original. Be sure to set the reminder to the appropriate interval as needed. Example: A seminar that is 2 months from now requires selecting breakout sessions 2 weeks prior. Move the message from the Inbox to the Calendar on the seminar date with a 2-week reminder.
3. Unsubscribe. Identify stuff that you don't really want to receive going forward. Be ruthless. If you haven't read that newsletter the past several months, you probably won't. Take a few moments to click the Unsubscribe link, then delete the unread message(s). You can also set up a rule to auto-file messages with that subject or from that sender into a "To-Read Later" folder (or Trash).
4. Archive. Review your email settings and select either auto-archive, or manually create a folder (named "Storage" or "Archive") for storing mail items of a certain age. My suggestion is 90 days, but any time increment that you like will be fine. Note: check your company or industry standards for safe, legal storage of email messages.
5. Reduce redundant actions on multiple devices. If you use a smartphone, desktop, laptop, and/or a tablet to manage your email, consider updating your server settings so that you don't find yourself deleting the same message several times or trying to remember what you already did. This can save both time and anxiety. (Depending on your company and/or set-up, you may also have access to total synchronization where all actions update on multiple devices, such as through special software or cloud options.) Example: I manage my email about half the time from my smartphone and the other half from a laptop. I can also manage from the web mail screen, but I never do. On my phone in Server Settings, Incoming settings, I have it set to Delete Email from server when I delete from Inbox. Also, I typically only save messages for 3 days on the server, except when traveling.
Bonus Tip: If it takes 2 minutes or less, do it now. Instead of procrastinating email, resulting in a bunch of messages piling up, challenge yourself to complete action on a message in 2 minutes or less. This is even better if you can do this in 1-3 blocks of time daily. You can end your work days feeling more accomplished (and hopefully earlier). This is a great habit to cultivate which will reduce your overwhelm over time, but also helps immediately.
These will help you avoid using your Inbox for storage (you don't keep your snail mail in your postbox, do you?). Now, it's up to you to put in place routines to help you maintain this Utopic Email state, and that's a whole other post...
DO IT & CELEBRATE: Go through the steps and get your Inbox to 0 messages over the next week. Brag it up by taking a screen-shot or photo of your empty Inbox and post it to me here, on Facebook, or Twitter. Then ENJOY it. Aaaaah. Good job!
Not sure how to?
Outlook settings
iPhone Mail settings
Gmail settings
Android settings
To your continued success,
Heather A Legge
Coaching in Business to Change Habits and Boost Results! EnvisionSuccessInc.com
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