Let’s face it, our email inbox is on the brink of explosion due to the incoming emails that keep pouring in every 30 minutes every day. What do we do about it? We leave them unattended and let them cause us unnecessary anxiety.
The number of companies, that have our data, are practising email marketing to their fullest potential. Then there are various portals or services we have subscribed to that keep sending us updates of any services we avail. And then there are emails that are actually of relevance to us. All these pile up in the email inbox creating a complete mess.
Letting emails pile up is certainly not a healthy practice and is definitely against email mannerisms. Further, just as cluttered spaces have a negative impact on the mind, email clutter too, has similar impacts.
Here are simple ways in which you can organise your email inbox before it gets the worst of you
Set a time to check your emails
An employee receives an average of 120 emails per day. Checking an email as and when you receive one cannot always be possible. Thus, you must decide one specific time of the day when you put everything aside and only check emails. This helps you to reply to emails the without any delay. Make sure you compulsorily check your inbox every single day.
Create labels
Befriend labels. They are a blessing. Create and name your labels so you know which label has what emails. This will also help in looking for emails quickly. You can also create labels on the basis of their urgency and relevance. Example: You can create a separate label for emails that first require someone else’s reply first, or you can also create a label having all emails dealing with e-bills, etc.
Delete irrelevant emails
Some emails, especially spam, junk and promotional, are irrelevant and serve no use whatsoever, Make sure you delete them the moment you open them. Don’t open them and leave them ‘read,’ just lying in your inbox. Take an action and delete the ones you know you won’t need.
Define a way to treat your email in a certain way
Having email behaviour is important. Define a way to treat your inbox in a way that best helps you. If you have emails that must be responded to but you cannot respond immediately, leave them unread or drop them on a label so you know which ones require your attention. Further, if there are standard replies you send to all your clients, create a format/reference from which you can simply copy and paste. This is a great time saver. If you also have some common details or pieces of information which is majorly shared, you can create a label for that as well. Have your own certain way of operating your email account and keeping your email inbox organised.
Unsubscribe from time to time
We receive unwanted emails from a number of companies be it Google Alerts or some news media website’s newsletters. It’s necessary to unsubscribe from these emails if they aren’t of any use to you. This way the number of emails you receive will reduce and your inbox will stay clean.
Don’t push yourself for ‘Inbox (0)’
Although it’s a tempting thing to attempt, it is not always possible to have zero emails in your in. So don’t run behind achieving it. This will only result in you hurrying to check the emails. Further, opening emails for the sake of not having any unread ones and not responding to them won’t do any good. 4-5 pending emails are fine. Just make sure you respond to the relevant ones first, delete the unnecessary ones, label the required ones that don’t demand an immediate response and leave some to be dealt with later.
Following these easy ways will surely get you started and help in keeping your email inbox organised, structured and clean.
