Your Inbox: From Overwhelmed to Zero
Do you ever feel like it’s all too much? Every Thursday, I share one action, habit, or project you may want to undertake in order to improve your health, happiness, and sense of well-being.
PROJECT OF THE WEEK
Take your inbox from overwhelm to zero.
At times it feels like email has taken over our lives. What's clear is that email is the leading method of communication and most certainly will continue to grow and evolve. Our goal is to incorporate email into our life management systems so that it becomes a tool to improve our lives, not weigh us down.
As Ashton Kutcher says,
email is “everyone else’s to-do list for you.”
As with any organization project, the key is to be realistic with where you’re starting. For your inbox, create a system that allows you to sort through and delegate each email based on its priority and length of time to complete. Below are some suggestions on how to do this both efficiently and effectively.
If you have 500 or fewer emails, I would recommend creating your system by sorting through those emails. If this is you, please skip to step 3.
If you have more than 500 emails in your inbox, which is very common, I would recommend picking a date you want to start fresh.
For example, today is June 2, 2022, so you may decide you want to start your system from March 1, 2022.
Your first step would be to create a folder and label it "Emails Prior to 03.01.22".
You would then "group select" all emails received prior to 03.01.22 and move them out of your inbox and into your "Emails Prior to 03.01.22" folder.
This will allow you to still have access to those emails through the search function, but they will not be sitting in your inbox.
Now, it’s time to sort through the remaining emails and create your system. It's up to you how simple or complex this system should be. You should expect the system to evolve and change as your life and needs change.
Pick a place to start and just work through your emails one by one. No jumping around. This process will take time, but should save you time in the long run.
Decide how long you want to work on this, as opposed to how many emails you want to get through in a session. For example, you may decide you want to work on this for 25 minutes per day, on weekdays, until it's complete.
Decision fatigue is a real thing. While you are setting up your system, I would recommend doing this earlier in your day. Once your system is set up, clearing out your inbox is a great task for the middle and end of your day.
But, How Do I Create A System?
Okay, you’ve set the time aside. You’re ready to clear out that inbox, but where should you start? Below are the most common options to choose from when deciding what to do with each email.
Unsubscribe! If the email is "Junk" or simply not adding value to your life, take a moment and unsubscribe. You can do this by:
Clicking the unsubscribe link.
Send the email to spam, so that all emails from this sender will end up there. I would recommend the spam function if you do not recognize the email sender. It's possible the email may contain a virus.
Change your subscription settings. You may be able to choose to reduce the number of emails from multiple times a week to once a month. This is not my favorite option, but is a good compromise if you are fearful of completely unsubscribing.
Be ruthless in deciding what is adding value. Don't remain subscribed to emails that are not currently worth your precious time to read. You can always re-subscribe in the future. Time is our most valuable resource. You can support people and companies in many ways, that does not include remaining on their email list.
PRO TIP: After you have unsubscribed, search for all emails from that sender, and do a mass delete.
The next category is emails that you need to take a few minutes to read and see if there is any action. Take the time to do this now.
If there is no action needed, decide if you will ever need to reference it again.
If you feel you will not need to reference it again, delete it.
If you feel you may need to reference it again, create a corresponding folder and move it there.
One time-saver is to simply have the rule to move all emails to a corresponding folder, if you are at all worried you might need to reference it in the future. This will give you the peace of mind that it's available if you need it, but it’s no longer taking up space in your inbox. As time goes on, you can reevaluate and always decide to delete going forward.
If there is an action needed and it can be completed in 2 minutes or less, I recommend doing it now.
If there is an action needed and it will take more than 2 minutes, I recommend printing out the email, writing on it the action that is needed, and then adding the printed email to a physical Action Folder. Come back to this email during a dedicated time scheduled on your calendar to complete each action.
The last category is emails that you want to keep as reminders, but that you don't need today.
A few examples are:
Your plane reservation information for a trip in two months. (I would recommend also having this info in a calendar appointment.)
Log-in info for a call. (I would recommend also having this info in a calendar appointment.)
Information from a new connection or a contact that you want to reference during a scheduled call. (I would recommend also adding this to where you take notes, such as an app like Evernote.)
An email that you responded to and are waiting on an important follow-up.
For any email that you decide to keep as a reminder, you should add a "star' to label what type of reference it is.
For example, a "blue star" might mean it's information for an upcoming reservation, meeting, or call.
A "purple question mark" may mean it’s an email that you responded to and are waiting for a reply.
The key is to pick symbols so that your brain knows the purpose of the email, before reading it.
Once you have added the corresponding "star" to label your email you should snooze it until the appropriate day.
For example, if you want your flight info to pop up the day before your trip, you would snooze it to the morning before your trip at 8:00 AM. Therefore, the email would disappear from your inbox now and pop back into your inbox on the day before your trip at the time you chose.
Congratulations! You now have zero emails in your inbox, a basic email system, and a physical folder of emails that require action.
Happy Spaces’ Tips & Tricks
Setting Up an Email Folder System: Choose folder names that will be easy for you to remember and recognize that it’s very common to have sub-folders too.
It often seems to work best to create the folders one at a time, as you read each email. After you have created a number of folders, you can go into settings and start to set up your sub-folder folder system. For example. If you have folders for multiple members of your family, you may create a folder for "Family" and move all your family members' folders under the "Family" folder.
Snoozing Emails: Many email systems now have a snooze feature built-in. If yours does not, look into a program called Boomerang, that you can integrate into your email system.
Incorporating Emails Into Your Notes: There are a number of benefits to using an electronic note taking system like Evernote or OneNote. You can forward emails from your inbox to these programs to make items easier to reference. You can also “Copy and Paste” parts of the email you want to discuss into your next meeting agenda.
Clean-up: On an ongoing basis, you should set aside 30 minutes twice a day to clear out your inbox. Ideally, you’ll do this mid-day and at the end of your workday, just prior to your 10-minute desk clean-up. On Fridays, it’s especially important to clear out your inbox. This is what will allow you to make the most of your time off, with the people who matter the most.
PRO TIP: How to manage email on weekends and vacations. Some people feel better not looking at email at all on days off, while others feel better setting aside 30 minutes in the morning or evening to clear out their inbox. What I do not recommend is checking your email multiple times a day, especially on days off, but not clearing anything out. This increases stress, while also being ineffective.
If you feel the need to check email on days off, set aside either 30 minutes in the morning or evening, or 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes to clear out your inbox. This will help you mentally relax and engage. There will be many times that you may feel better sending an email on a day off, even though it is not urgent because you don't want things to pile up. I highly recommend scheduling emails to send upon your return to work, so that you can feel good that your part of the task is complete, but you won't initiate a new task for yourself until you are back at work.
Additional Resource
I highly recommend the book, "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. While it does not directly address email, it does address how to manage the many projects and to-do's in your life. When you have a complete system to manage all the projects in your life, email becomes a lot easier to manage.
A Note from Happy Spaces
The goal is to add value to your life. If you think this project will add value:
Estimate how long you think it will take. I would recommend doubling the time you estimate.
Look at your calendar over the next week and pick a date and time to get started.
Make an appointment on your calendar for the estimated time.
If you estimate that completing this project will take longer than one hour, I recommend doing it over multiple days. This will support you in getting started!
Prior to starting this project, take a few minutes to make a step-by-step list of EVERY action you need to take to complete this project.
It's not all or nothing. You can choose to implement only the parts of this project that add value to your life.
An Accountability Partner can be a great support in following through on your goals and commitments.
We understand how challenging it can be to implement new habits and systems. For additional support please go to HappySpacesBySarah.com.
Creating a life you don't need a vacation from! ®
Sincerely,
Sarah Weingarten
Meet Sarah
Growing up as the oldest of nine siblings in Upstate New York, I learned to use organization to create sanity among the chaos. Today, I work together with individuals, families, and small businesses to create habits, systems, and spaces that support their needs, goals, and dreams. Clients often refer to our work together as "life-changing" and "better than decades of therapy". What I love most about my work is the lasting impact it has on real people's lives. Nothing makes me happier than hearing the many success stories of clients I have worked with.