Overcoming Email Overload
If you’re like me, you have trouble managing your email. Do you find it almost impossible to keep up with the dozens or even hundreds of messages (yes, I get hundreds) coming in each day? Are you tired of all those broadcast emails like the joke of the day from your sister in law? Not to mention a dozen emails back-and-forth just to confirm the time the bake sale at school is starting.
And if you’re more of a “leave it in the in-box until I deal with it so I don’t forget” kind of person then you’re in-box is overflowing! Either we leave the email to get back to it later or we’re not sure which system to use. Should you have folders and sub-folders? Where do emails that are in process belong? What if you move them to a folder and forget about them? And if you have multiple folders how should you label them? An email from your boss about the budget does it go in the budget or boss folder? Maybe you’ll just delete them all, but what if you need it a year from now? And when you do how will you possibly find it? It’s all too much so we do nothing, right? So much for a tool that’s supposed to simplify our lives! Well there is still hope, try keeping it simple with a three-folder system. Create three folders titled: FOLLOW UP, for those messages that still require action on our part HOLD, for emails that require action from someone else ARCHIVE, for everything else And that’s it! To start your new system scan your current emails then move each one into one of the three folders. If you have a lot to move spend five minutes each day moving a few until you are done. To keep your new system going, each time a new email arrives read it and then either delete it immediately or put it into one of the three folders. And remember, if you need to find a message later, save time by using the search feature so you don’t have to reply on your own memory. Keeping it simple means that email can once again be an effective time saving tool. You’ll feel more in control once you have your in-box whittled down. That’s it for this week’s challenge. Until next Monday have a clutter-free week, Jamie
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