An overflowing email inbox is the bane of many people’s existence. It can be so overwhelming, some people describe it as “drowning” in email.
I once heard of a local politician who had over 40,000 unread emails in her inbox. It didn’t bother her one bit, but it drove her staff nuts. She missed meetings and invitations to community events because she didn’t keep her emails in check. As well as those community invitations, I bet there were also a lot of spam and unwanted junk sitting in the inbox.
So how do you keep on top of all the emails that arrive daily? Well, taking control of email is very much like taking control of snail mail. You can control the inbound flow by unsubscribing from any list that doesn’t meet your goals, and by setting up rules to automatically delete or sideline the junk.
Another way to control the flow is to adjust your computer settings so arriving emails don’t interrupt your work with a distracting ping or a pop op box. If you really are waiting on something important, you can hit the send/receive button.
Next, set aside time each day to look at your email and deal with it. Taking action is the most important part. Flex your decision making muscles by taking action, whether that’s a quick reply, a speedy deletion or promptly moving things out of your inbox to where you want to store them long term. Keep your inbox for only those things still awaiting your attention. And good luck!
When can you schedule 5 minutes of unsubscribing from unwanted email lists?
