Email made easy
Email… It used to be a modern day marvel. Today, it’s become most people’s nemesis – a never ending, constant stream of demands for your attention.
If you feel overwhelmed by your email inbox, I’ve got some easy tips for you this morning that will help you breath, relax, and whip your inbox into shape!
1. Create a junk email address. I’ve got a few emails that I want to continue to receive, but don’t want cluttering up my inbox. For example, I get email deals from my favorite retailers that I shop at regularly, get updates on local “current happenings”, and so on. But, I don’t need these emails at the rate I receive them, cluttering up my inbox and causing me more work and distraction.
Hot Tip: create a separate junk email (I use a free web-based email for this). “Why not just set up a rule in my existing inbox?” you ask? Personally, I still find it too distracting – it’s a great time waster. With a separate junk email all together, I know exactly where to go when I want the info, but don’t feel compelled to keep on top of it.
2. Zero out your inbox everyday. Your junk email aside, do you have hundreds, maybe even thousands of emails sitting in your inbox? Check out this Google Tech Talk video on how to zero out your inbox everyday: http://inboxzero.com/video/
3. Make a date with your inbox. Stop checking email all day long and block out time in your calendar to go through your inbox everyday. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t easy at first – it takes discipline. With email coming in via our computers, smartphones, and tablets, it’s hard NOT to check it all the time.
Set aside time once a day (ideally at the end of the day) to zero out your inbox. If you are waiting for a reply on some important things, simply scan your inbox for those as you need them, but don’t fall into the trap of dealing with incoming requests until your date time.
Email can feel like a fire hose of demands, but with a system in place on how and when you deal with them, you CAN claim your life back from your inbox!
