Inbox Intervention

The great thing about email is that it is instant. If you wait days and days before you answer the mail, it removes the best thing about email. By keeping your inbox free of clutter, you will quickly discover that it is easier to get to the important messages and answer them on a timely basis while weeding out the unnecessary junk.

The first step is to set up some folders. If you do not know how to set up folders, there is a “help” menu with instructions in whatever email system you use. These folders will be in your inbox and will act just like paper folders in a file cabinet. You can sort and file away messages and reduce your inbox clutter.

If you set aside a few minutes each day to clear out your inbox, checking your email will be a lot less stressful. Set up an appointment on your calendar to do this each day. Try doing this towards the beginning of each day.

Set up a file for each child, your mom, newsletters, school, online purchases, work items, etc. as you need them. Avoid printing out a lot of emails. It is a waste of paper, especially when you can either save the photos, other attachments or text elsewhere on the computer for future reference.

If you have copied multiple people on your outgoing message, every time someone responds and hits “reply all” you will see all of the incoming messages. You do not need to keep all of those. If there is a long conversation going back and forth between you and one person, only keep the most recent as it generally has the entire conversation within the email.

Spam and junk mail... Just saying it, can anger people. Most people get boatloads of junk email every single day. Go through and delete those right away. Legally, the companies spamming you must have an “unsubscribe” statement at the end of the email. You can unsubscribe to these companies individually, or give unsubscribe.com a try. They are dedicated to help eradicate unwanted junk email. Unfortunately, some spam is impossible to stop. If that happens, you can set up your email to either block that particular sender, or put their messages immediately into the trash folder.

If you make purchases online, and most of us do, you will get emails from those companies. Put all receipts, confirmations and shipping emails in a folder you set up for online purchases. As you check out when making your purchase, there is generally a box (they automatically check “yes” for you) asking if you want to receive offers, ads and even newsletters from them. This is a way to get you to keep coming back to buy things. By un-checking the box when you make your purchase, you will cut down on mailings from them.

All of your emails can be divided by the 4 Ds of decision making: DELETE IT, DO IT, DELEGATE IT, DEFER IT.

Loads of emails can be discarded once they have been read. These include the amusing jokes, stories and funny pictures that constantly circulate. Does the message relate to something current? No? DELETE it! Why keep information that doesn’t relate to your main focus? Does the message have information you can find elsewhere? Yes? Delete it. Does the message have information you may refer to in the next six months? No? Delete it. You can always save the information into a file on your computer if you think you will need it later.

Next, does the email require a task or response that can be done quickly? If so, DO it. If not, place the email in the appropriate folder for later.

If you can’t do the job quickly, is there someone else who can? This can be a tough one for some people, but DELEGATE if you can.

If all else fails, DEFER any action until later.

Everyone’s email has a limit to how much data can be stored. Depending on the mail server or system you use, the amount of space varies. If you have too many messages in your inbox, especially if they contain attachments like photos or other files, your inbox may quickly fill to capacity. Any emails you get at that point will be returned to the sender. You do not want to miss important messages.

Once your email is sorted, deleted or tasks completed, you can go on about your day without that cluttered inbox haunting you all afternoon. You have the sense of accomplishment and a manageable inbox.