Woke up with 100+ new emails? It’s just another regular day. Trust me, there are others having more than that in a day.
I think the best way to manage this is to GET ORGANIZED, before it becomes overwhelming and stress you. Easier said than done. But we have to apply a little of these organization techniques to lessen the number of emails you have to sit through and read. Here are few suggested ways:
RULES. I’ve set email rules for 3 things: return replies on meeting invites, out of office notice, and other system auto-messages. I setup rules to move these in different folders. This alone will significantly reduce the number of emails on your inbox.
SORT. By Sender – to prioritize reading emails sent by important people; By Priority – to give more attention the high priority emails (although, sometimes this can be overused); and By Subject Line – this helps you read the latest email of the thread, instead of going through it one by one.
ARCHIVE. For all closed communication, you may already move the email thread into archive or intended folders. This allows you to clear your inbox and retain only emails you need to work on.
Few more tips:
- Choose only a few times in a day to review your emails, so you can do the “real” work.
- Respond quickly to emails that need your attention so it don’t pile up and worse be buried from new emails that will come in
- Turn off email alerts. The sound only adds to everyday stress.
Hope this helps someone, as much as it has helped me. Cheers to our daily grind!