Oh, the never-ending chore of emptying your email inbox. Every time I get it cleaned up, I soon have 20 more emails to go through. Lately I’ve been trying harder to keep it under control. Here are 5 things that I think helps keep my email inbox organized.
1. Unsubscribe
If you want to get your email inbox under control, you need to use this ruthlessly. I usually feel kind of bad unsubscribing, but if I end up missing those emails I can always subscribe again.
2. Delete
Again, use it ruthlessly. And if you find yourself using it over and over from the same sender, it’s probably time to go back to step 1.
3. Get Folders Organized
I have lots of email folders, but it’s a quick way to move things that aren’t urgent but I don’t want to delete. It’s also a great way to keep track of information without cluttering your actual inbox.
4. Follow up File
Have a particular file to put emails that might need more follow-up.
5. Reply right away
For the rest of the emails, reply right away or move into the follow-up file.
How do you keep your email inbox uncluttered and organized?
Thanks Laura. This is an empowering and simplified post with effective tips. Number 4 and 5 are are a dynamic duo. (smile) Many times the culprit is that we’re simply following too many individuals. We subscribe to this one and to that one and before you know it we’re overwhelmed by all the many messages with just the right thing for that day. This creates email clutter but also mind clutter. I will also tweet this.
So true about too much email creating mind clutter on top of the email clutter! Thanks for stopping by and for the tweet! 🙂
Email clutter is probably one of my biggest issues. I’ve tried so many things but I keep falling back into bad habits 🙁
Great, simple tips though! Thanks for sharing 😀
p.s. Stopping by from The Weekend Re-Treat
Thanks for visiting!
Good tips – thanks for sharing. I need to start making folders for things that I need to keep – I just clean up my inbox a few weeks ago and it is now overwhelming again. I also think there are a few places I need to unsubscribe to – some of them send like 2 or 3 emails per day.
Yes, I’ve definitely found the folders helpful. I’ve heard in outlook and gmail you can also create rules for certain emails to automatically get sent to their folder! Thanks for stopping by!
I have rules that send certain email addresses or subject lines, to folders. It helps with my inbox, and I can visit the folders to read when I have time.
I am enjoying your decluttering advice! I need to unsubscribe from some emails but find it very hard! I get a ton of emails-many of them I want for research, but some are just clutter.
So glad you’re enjoying it, Kristie! I know what you mean with the emails – every time I unsubscribe to some, I always find more lists to subscribe to! It’s like a never-ending cycle.