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    5 steps to an empty email inbox

    By Marci Alboher, Working the New Economy | Work + Money – Wed, May 20, 2009 9:14 PM EDT

    Getty ImagesGetty ImagesEmail management is like dieting. You know what you're supposed to do, but you need a refresher now and then. And headlines promising "Three Ways To Tame Your Inbox," are as irresistible as those offering, "Five Foods That Will Change Your Life."

    Still, eating right is easier for me than getting email under control, which is why I've sampled every program around, from those offered by experts like David Allen, Gina Trapani and Merlin Mann
    to those by anyone else who claims to have the cure.
    If you're wondering why I'm qualified to give advice on this, it's because my inbox has held less than 20 messages for close to two weeks. That's like shedding two dress sizes.

    Full disclosure: like with dieting advice, there is nothing new here. I'm just delivering it in a new wrapper. But here's what's working for me now:

    1. Do not treat your inbox as your to-do list. That means you should avoid keeping unread messages as reminders. (Hat tip to career coach, Michael Melcher, for the handy mantra.) Instead, once you've read an email, do something with it. Usually what you'll do is file, respond, or get the information out of the message and onto a to-do list or calendar.

    2. Commit to the one touch rule. This simple bit of advice is recommended by many time management gurus, and it means that you will only touch a piece of email once. But how often do we read a message three times before doing anything with it? If you're not ready to deal with it (which you can usually tell by scanning the header and peeking at the preview), don't even read it.

    3. Create folders and use them. Most email programs allow you to set up folders, and if yours doesn't, consider switching to one that does. Create folders called "needs follow-up," "stuff to read," "upcoming meetings," etc., so that you can deal with messages at the appropriate time. Consider printing out messages that you need a block of time to handle and put them in a priority place on your desk. If you are worried you won't ever look at a folder called "needs follow-up," calendar some time to check the follow-up folder at regular intervals, or print certain messages and put them on a bulletin board or somewhere you'll notice them.

    4. Unsubscribe to unnecessary newsletters. Consider using Twitter or RSS to follow blogs and news sites. To find out what news outlets are on Twitter, check out MuckRack. As for the newsletters you decide to continue with, only open them when you're ready to quickly scan and file away. If you belong to any social networks, opt against getting updates by email; if you're interested enough in the site, visit there to see who's contacted you.

    5. Send less email. Email begets email. And not all emails deserve a reply. But whenever you reply, you keep the conversation going. Some conversations are better for other media. Instant messaging works well for quick conversations. Facebook or Twitter are handy for sharing links. And occasionally, that old device called the telephone is remarkably effective.

    What's working for you on email management? Please chime in, as I'll try anything to keep that inbox slim.

     

    13 comments

    • Eric Goebelbecker
      Eric Goebelbecker  •  3 years 0 months ago
      I found a while back that printing an e-mail for later reading created another people of paper that is carried around, pushed from one end of the desk from another, and then ends up in recycling.
    • Just Me
      Just Me  •  3 years 0 months ago
      I hate forwards.
    • lili dauphin
      lili dauphin  •  3 years 0 months ago
      I don't like to delete my emails. I always feel that I may need them somehow even if I never look at them again. I tend to hold on to them just like I do my old clothes. Great advice. Thanks. I will try some of your strategies.
    • A. G. S
      A. G. S  •  3 years 0 months ago
      My best friend for email management is "delete all."
    • divya
      divya  •  3 years 0 months ago
      Lovely & very useful article.......Keep rocking....
    • JOHNO
      JOHNO  •  3 years 0 months ago
      Is there a way to literally delete ALL. That is, I see a DELETE ALL button on screen but it only deletes all the emails on that screen page. Is there a way to delete all the emails so that I can start anew and then do what I should have done from the beginning: keep in flash, simply delete an email that I want to get anew next week, month, etc., and/or Spamout the real trash?
      Also, I have been targeted with porn emails? Is there a Junkmail button that sends that garbage into the Ether similar to a DoNotMail 1800 number?
      John
    • Marci Alboher, Working th ...
      Marci Alboher, Working th ...  •  3 years 0 months ago
      To answer your "delete all" question, JOHNO, it depends on what email program you're using. Usually you can only delete groups of emails (e.g. one screen's worth) at a time.
    • Emily
      Emily  •  3 years 0 months ago
      The ONLY way that email is somewhat manageable for me is thanks to gmail. The strings are my saving grace! The only problem is when people start addressing varying subjects and they get lost in the string. It's an amazing tool though if used correctly!
    • A Yahoo! User  •  3 years 0 months ago
      e-mail management falls right there in the category of edit management; I'm hopeless at both. Great tips.
    • Amy
      Amy  •  3 years 0 months ago
      i've always found it difficult to say that i recive a lot of messages and i don't want to trash them
      thanks for these tips girl
    • Mep
      Mep  •  3 years 0 months ago
      The first item is a little confusing to me. You said "That means you should avoid keeping unread", but I think you meant "That means you should avoid keeping *read*"
    • TEZZ
      TEZZ  •  3 years 0 months ago
      Mep you actually wrong. People (myself) included will keep unread messages as a reminder to read them or something to get back to. The advice is that these messages should be read, deleted, or filed right away.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  3 years 0 months ago
      Nice post! Thanks for sharing! I never thought of Twitter as something useful for keeping our email inbox uncluttered, but it will help me in getting the word out about my recently-posted blogs a lot easier. I just signed up on Twitter yesterday, and I love it.

      And in answer to your question, I wrote a blog post about Email and keeping it under control. It's a long article but in short I would recommend dealing with email once or twice a day, place certain emails in certain folders (just as you suggested), and TRASH any that are irrelevant to you or what you need to be doing.

      I also recommend turning of email notifications on Facebook and go directly TO Facebook; there are so many it gets ridiculous; wall posts, group posts, picture tags, invites, causes, the list goes on and makes my email inbox look like a wasteland. So I go to Settings and turn off email notifications. Bingo! A lot less hassle to deal with in the morning and during the day.

      Great blog, keep them coming!
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