How to organize your inbox without losing your mind
A seriously stuffed inbox can seem impossible to defeat, but it’s one of the easiest areas to organize if you use the right method. Here’s how to do it:
Make sure you organize all your email accounts, including work, personal, and old-school accounts, at the same time. Merge similar accounts and consider using an app like Shift, which allows you to manage multiple accounts under one workstation.
Get rid of junk mail first and unsubscribe from those you don’t want to see again. If you’re looking at an inbox of 500+ emails, I recommend using an automated tool like unroll.me to get rid of junk mail painlessly.
Assess your emails and divide them up into categories.
Create folders (now called ‘labels’ in Gmail) based on these categories.
Go through every email in order from oldest to newest. If you’re confident you remember what is in an email, you can skip opening it and instead use the inbox overview and checkmark next to each email that fits within a category and move it to that label. Then move on to the next category.
You’ll likely come across emails that require an action or task. If it’s a task, add it to your task manager or calendar. If it needs a response, move it to an ‘urgent’ or ‘needs response’ folder.
Once your inboxes are decluttered and organized with folders, try to set aside time at least once a week to “weed” the emails to keep them tidy.
And that’s it! If you still feel overwhelmed at the thought of tackling your inbox, you can contact me to set up a free 30-minute consultation.