“I get so much email I just don’t know what to do about it.”
“I can’t seem to clean out my inbox…”
“I haven’t gotten to your email yet; I will get to it later.”
Heard any of those before? Have you ever had that feeling? You are not alone.
I learned that sometimes the easiest way is to learn some tricks that work around the issue, rather than trying to push through the chaos. Do a Google search for creating rules in Outlook, rules in Office 365, Filters in Gmail, and you will find all sorts of results. They all try to put the most important emails in the inbox and all others in another folder/filter.
Tips for Gmail, Outlook, and Office 365
I used to suggest processing email to zero, and I used to be a little more strict with rules but these days I suggest that you do the opposite. An idea that sounds backwards… but it is, and that is why it worked better for me.
Outlook/Office 365 Outlook:
First: Rules
The same thing the other people say to use. Instead of trying to search for “unsubscribe” to catch newsletters, collecting dozens of email domains to add to a whitelist or some other elaborate system…
- Make a folder, rename it to “0 Staff” (the 0 makes it show at the top of the list of folders) and make the rule move all the internal company emails to that folder. Don’t add any alerts for incoming emails for that folder. Just let the emails go to that folder.
- Working with clients? Make a folder call it “0 Clients”, then funnel the emails from their domains to that folder AND THEN process from that folder to wherever you normally put those emails.
Meanwhile, all sorts of emails including your newsletters, miscellaneous emails and some junk will accumulate in the inbox throughout the day.
Next: Timing
Obviously you will want to check the staff and clients email folders more than once a day. I am not suggesting you do otherwise. I do suggest you develop certain times of the day to check the folders, times that work best to YOUR mental clarity. Don’t answer emails before that first cup of coffee is that is what it takes for you to be clear of thought in the morning. Likewise, no emailing while being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
This is how I did it:
- I woke up in the morning, and I checked for any “emergency” emails. Those included alarm notes for servers, the burglar alarm system, and any other types of that kind. Then I stopped checking work type emails. Those can wait.
- While I ate breakfast I read news articles on web sites, the Daily Dilbert, xkcd
- I scanned my personal email for stuff from family or friends. Quick replies or decide if it was something to reply to later after some clearer thought.
- Once I got to work, check internal emails. If it was any notice, scan them and then delete. If it is a meeting related email, copy the contents if it is non-sensitive to the meeting on my calendar, delete the email. Sensitive email put a category on it for later so I can find it among the other internal emails. (Then delete any email not required for compliance or whatever.)
- Check any client emails, similar to the internal email processing
- All the stuff in the inbox? Periodically through the day take a hatchet or shovel to the inbox emails and take them out. It will become semi-mindless and a quick thing to do.
You need to become self-aware of what times work best for you. I checked internal emails about two or three times each morning and no later than thirty minutes before lunch. Post lunch, at least thirty minutes after I get back is when I checked all three email folders and for no longer than ten minutes. If it was quick, a quick reply, if it took longer, come back to it.
Gmail:
Similar to the idea of the process with Outlook/Office 365 Outlook but Gmail doesn’t do folders, it does Filters and Labels. Labels are Gmail’s answer to folders. Filters are Gmail’s answer to rules.
I check my Gmail email addresses (yes, I have multiple accounts) a couple of times a day and use the following as my guidelines:
I check them according to what I use them for.
- Games emails I check a couple of times a week.
- Personal emails daily about three times a day, in the morning at breakfast, while at lunch, and in the evening.
- Newsletters, once a day when I am filling in a gap of time or while waiting for an appointment.
I use similar guidelines for filters and labels that I use for Outlook.
Labels:
(How to make them visually easier to see)
- Family
- From me or one of my email addresses
- From Facebook, Twitter, or other social media accounts
- From my cell phone provider
- From Netflix or Hulu
Filters:
Applies the Labels to emails follow the template of:
- from:(email address 1 OR email address 2 OR email address 3) to:(my primary email address)
Do this: Apply label “(label you made up)”
Once completed you can click on the Label that is listed below Inbox on the left side of the web Gmail interface, or in the menu of the mobile apps.
- Pro tip: If you are an Android phone user and have the Gmail app downloaded you can create a “Shortcut” to a Gmail Label on the main phone screen so you can jump straight to that Label
Finally:
As with all advice you receive on the internet or written, personal or professional, you should take some time to think about how it applies to you. You are the big piece to the puzzle that is your life. If you can’t learn to let things flow in your life without “holding on for control” then there is a chance that no tips will work for you effectively.
More information about:
Gmail
Outlook
Outlook 365
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