does your inbox need Some decluttering?
Many clients have asked me if I can help them with their electronic organizations – emails, online filing, communication consolidation – all in an attempt to reduce the general clutter sitting on all our laptops. While there basic guidelines I follow and personalize for different clients, I wanted to do some deeper research to see what others are doing and what is out there to help us all.
There is a culture that follows the strict rules of ‘inbox zero’, a new term to me. I am happy when my inbox is under 4 digits, I could not imagine 0! But it is a real thing, clearly the holy grail of keen electronic organization. Just like home organization and clutter guidelines, you need to find what works best for YOU! Take steps that help you to feel less stressed and more in control of your environment, whether that be your home or laptop world. Then maybe, dig a little deeper…
For my inbox, I use a system that keeps all action-oriented emails, those which need reply, work on my part or research, marked unread. This way I see the number of to-do’s right there on my phone and laptop, that little red circle email icon calling my name! For myself, if I can keep the number under 10, I’m golden! If it goes above 15, the organizer in me goes a little crazy.
I have divided my suggestions for email organization into five steps (‘cuz I love a good list!):
Unsubscribe from all those promotional emails you still get after the initial 10% offer – take a minute and either completely unsubscribe or change your subscription email preferences.
Delete emails that are already replied to or addressed, if there is information in the email you need, copy it to the right place (address book, calendar, notes) and delete the email. If it’s spam, report it in your browser.
For those emails you are not quite ready to delete, try archiving important emails instead of keeping them in your inbox. By archiving, they stay where you need them, but are not looming over you where only the very relevant emails should stay.
After about a week, chances are you will not get to the blog post emails and list newsletters – delete them! The next ones will always have past posts or important info and you can catch up on then. If not, delete those too. If you find you are no longer interested, unsubscribe. Believe me, those of us who send these emails out want to be reaching those to whom we feel relevant!
Once you feel confident your inbox is cleaned and purged, start a folder system. I’ve been very satisfied with both imail and gmails’ folder and star options. Only once I started researching for this blog, did I learn about “inbox snoozing”, “email boomeranging”, and “reply scheduling”. Start slowly, and if you feel ready, let me know, as these are next on my list to learn and I would be happy to share the info!
As the holidays are upon us, stay calm, stay organized and delete! If you or anyone you know needs help, o r d e r is here!
All my best, Laura
p.s. order gift certificates are a wonderful way to share the organizational love this holiday season!