How do you handle your email management? If you’re like a lot of folks, you sometimes (maybe often) have an overflowing email Inbox! Or maybe it’s just a little out of control. Or maybe it’s Taking Over the World!
(In a hurry? Just scroll to the very bottom and visit the Members Library for the Email Management Cheat Sheet!)
As you might know, I’m an Executive Assistant by day, and I live in my Inbox. So I have to have a system to keep it manageable. And luckily, that same email management system works for my personal and business Inboxes as well. So in this post, I’ll share the system I’ve developed over years of being a professional Inbox manager. Here we go!
Prepare for Email Management
Schedule Two Daily Blocks of Email Time
First, pick two times you can commit to each day. Put them in your calendar. It helps if they’re the same times every day – we’re creating a habit, here. Ideally, they should be times when you’re reasonably fresh. Not when you’re tired, grouchy, hungry, or have a show to watch.
The idea is to spend less than 1 minute or so per email. (Usually it’s much less! And I’ll talk about longer emails later.) So figure the number of emails you usually get in a day, round up, and allot yourself that many minutes twice a day. (You can always adjust if that’s too long or too short.)
I like the twice a day system. But if you absolutely HAVE to respond to your email more often, set yourself more times a day for this process. (However, you’d be surprised how understanding people are, and how quickly they learn that you only respond once or twice a day. Even in business. People actually get used to getting emails from you at particular times!)
If you’d like more info, here’s an interesting article from Inc. magazine on the subject.
Set Up Your Email View
Set up your email view to be unthreaded, with one skinny line per email.
I only have four columns – From, Subject, Date, and Importance. That keeps it super clear and simple, and takes up less room. Also it’s easier to see multiple responses to a single subject.
Are You a Saver or a Deleter?
This is an important distinction to make before you get going. You want to know exactly what you’re going to do with your emails once you’ve dealt with them. So decide this in advance if you can.
(Can’t choose? Err on the side of saving. You can always delete later if you find you’re really a Deleter after all.)
If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t save anything, then skip on to the ‘Scan for Junk’ section!
But if you do save things for future reference, read on. I, as you might imagine, am a Saver. That’s probably because I’ve been an EA for so long. (Also, I’m just that way.)
Set Up Archive Folders
If you’re a Saver too, then you’ll want to set up some archive folders in your email account. This is where you’ll store your emails when you’re done with them.
I usually just make archive folders as I go along. Although, after you’ve been at it a while, most of your emails will go into existing folders. If not, though, just make a new one. For instance, here are a few of mine.
Right? You just make whatever categories and sub-categories you’ll remember. And let me stress, that you should have whatever categories YOU’LL remember! An email management system is very personal. It’s no good if certain categories work for somebody else, but not for you.
Email Management Process
Scan for Junk
Scan through your Inbox and highlight everything that’s junk. I define Junk as anything you’re not going to open. For instance, I’m not in the market for any of the sales emails I got today. However, I don’t want to unsubscribe to my favorite retailers – someday I’m going to want something!
Use the trick of holding down the CTRL key and clicking multiple emails as you go down your list. That way you can delete them all at once and be done with it.
Start With the Oldest or Most Important
Then sort your emails by date received, and start with the oldest. Or the ones marked “Important.”
NOTE #1: I find that some people mark all their emails Important, even when they don’t fit my definition. Which is: Am I or someone else going to miss a deadline if I don’t respond this very second?
That’s it. There’s nothing else in my world that demands immediate attention. (Unless it’s a medical emergency, which I would assume merits a phone call!)
NOTE #2: If you often have multiple responses to one subject, do a quick re-sort by subject line. You want to be sure you’re responding to the most current email.
Open up your oldest email and read it!
Can You Handle It in 1 – 2 Minutes or Less?
If so, do!
Then –
Remove It From Your Inbox
If you’re a Saver, move the email into one of your archive folders, where you’ll be able to find it later.
If you’re a Deleter, delete!
Move Your Response Email Into the Archive Folder Too
I know some people who have sparkling clean Inboxes. However, all the emails they’ve ever sent are still in their Sent folders! This creates serious holes in your email history!
Move your response email from the Sent folder into the same archive folder as the original email. And do it right away. You think you’re going to go back and do it later, but you never do.
Go On To The Next Email
Then, move on to the next email and do the same thing.
But what if you come to one that’s going to take longer than a minute or so?
What If It Takes Longer Than 2 Minutes?
DO IT LATER Folders
If you open an email and realize it’s going to take you longer than 2 minutes, you move it into what I call the Do-It-Later archive folders.
These are folders that temporarily hold emails by categories, such as the above. You want to make as few folders as possible, so emails don’t get lost in the shuffle.
Set Up Calendar Blocks for Your Do-It-Later Folders
Then, just like you did for your email block, set up other blocks on your calendar. These will correspond to the Do-It-Later folders. It’s easiest for me to have my other blocks right after my email block. That way, it’s easier to do it, since I’m already at the computer. Feel free to set timers if that will help. I do love a good timer!
Whatever time you choose, when that block arrives, go to the folder and work your way through the emails. As above, start with the oldest &/or most important. (And move along smartly! Try not to agonize or debate about your response. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, just get the job done.)
Let me give you an example. For instance, I subscribe to lots of blogs. That means I get several notifications of new posts every day. I’ve set aside a separate block of time in my daily calendar for “Blog Reading.” When it’s blog reading time, I go to the Blog Post Notifications folder, open an email and click through to read the post.
Delete or Save to the Archives
When I finish reading, commenting, etc., I come back and delete the email. Then go on to the next. If I get to the end of my blog reading time and there are still some emails in there, I go ahead and delete them. I know I’m going to get another notification tomorrow.
However, if I’m in the Projects folder, I’m going to make sure I get through all of the emails. I’m also going to save those emails and my responses. So instead of deleting them when I finish, I move them to their appropriate archive folders.
What If It’s Going to Take a REALLY Long Time?
If you have any email that’s going to take longer than you have time for that day, shoot off a simple acknowlegment. Tell the sender that you received it, and let them know when you’ll send a full response. Nobody likes to be ignored! (Plus that’ll keep them from sending a bunch more emails, asking if you got it!)
Then either keep the email in the Projects folder until you finish it, or move it to a “Long Term Project” folder. That way, you can work on it in stages.
And – you’ve done it!
Email Management Rewards
And the reward for your email management is more than just a shiny clean Inbox! It’s the peace of mind that comes with having your email under control. The confidence that you can handle whatever will show up in your Inbox tomorrow. The joy of having one less thing to worry about.
Plus, there’s just nothing like a shiny clean Inbox!
How do you handle your email? Join the discussion in the Comments below.
And if you’d like an Email Management Cheat Sheet, you can get it from the Members Library. If you’re not a member already, you can sign up when you get there – I’d love if you joined us!
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