How to Spring Clean Your Email Inbox
Posted on Tue, Apr 24, 2012
Image credit: duebymonday.com
By: Melanie
The weather in Boston has been absolutely beautiful. It’s the perfect time for leaving the windows open and spring cleaning. Basement: check. House: check. Yard: check. Those were easy.
I then move on to cleaning out clothing, shoes, and accessories, which I have been avoiding for years. I tackle that project, and someone else is on the receiving end of a Christmas morning. I’m a planner, organizer and neat freak. I feel so good after this cleanse.
If I can clean up all of these things in my life, what about my dreaded email inbox? It was in major need of an overhaul and deep clean. So, I sat down one morning and spent the entire day spring cleaning my email. As I went through this tedious task, I realized that it doesn’t have to come down to this. If I stick to a few simple guidelines, my email will be much more manageable and organized in the future.
Here are 10 ways to keep your inbox in great shape all year long:
- Delete, delete, delete. If the topic is irrelevant, immediately delete the message.
- Organize your email and create folders. Once an email is read, save it in a folder.
- If there is an email in your inbox from three years ago, delete it. Make yourself a time frame for deleting old emails.
- Save money by instantly deleting shopping emails. Don’t be suckered in by the “Today only! Thirty percent off!” sale.
- Deal with each email one at a time and delete or classify it.
- If it needs action, flag it, rather than letting it get lost in the shuffle.
- Don’t fall victim to the chain email, no matter how much it pulls on your heartstrings. Once you receive one, get rid of it, and don’t forward it to others.
- If the message isn’t urgent, don’t red flag it. This can cause unnecessary heart palpitations.
- Don’t overdo recipients, replies to all and cc’s. There are so many unnecessary emails in my inbox from the reply-to-all option.
- Lastly, if it’s a simple note or question, talk to your co-workers first, either by phone, instant message or face to face.