Insanely Actionable Strategies that Will Get

Your Inbox to Zero

And Keep it That Way

Are you afraid to look at your inbox because of the number of emails is overwhelming? You are not alone!

According to Mailbutler, about 40% of consumers report that they have at least 50 unread emails in their inboxes. (Porch Group Media) To make matters worse, people receive around 200 emails in their inbox at any given time!

So these statistics show that it is definitely a significant challenge to keep your inbox organized and management. The growing number of unread emails and overall volume received daily can lead to a sense of being overwhelmed.

What is the solution? Develop some effective strategies for inbox management. Follow along with these tips below to keep things under control.

By following these strategies, you will have:

• Systems set up to process daily email

• Emptied out your overflowing inbox

• Established rules to handle incoming email

• A process to quickly find important information

• Trained others on how to write emails

• Become free - no longer a slave to your inbox

• Freed up hours of time.

Pace yourself as you apply the principles listed below and see how you finally get your inbox under control. Work on each tip individually, and see how your inbox transforms.

TIP #1 - The 2-Minute Rule

Develop a habit of only handling your email once. Decide when you will work in your email, and set a time on your calendar. Then quickly scan your inbox and look for those emails that you can process in 2 minutes or less. Is it a quick read? Does it require just a simple response? Is it an appointment reminder that you can add to your calendar?

The secret of the 2-minute rule is you are learning to become efficient with your time, and learning to going handle the messages once. Remember, clutter = postponed decisions. So when you are working in your email, seize the moment and make the decisions, and act on the email.

TIP #2 - Empty Your Inbox

You want to set a goal of having an empty inbox at the end of each day. But before you can achieve that goal, you will need to first address the 'elephant' in the room, and tackle the overflow of the current emails.

The easiest way to get started is to create a folder, and name it the month and year (i.e. AUG2024). Then select ALL of your emails at once and MOVE into this folder.

Before you panic, know that your unread emails are still available for you to process. But we are going to tackle this mountain a little at a time. I suggest that you do a couple of 'sorts' inside this folder and first sort by date. Starting at the most recent date, do a quick scan and look for any urgent or immediate items that need addressing. Then sort the emails by sender, and do another quick sort and act on the important ones. Schedule 30 minutes a day to continue working through this folder. Note, after going through a couple month's worth, it's probably safe to say that the rest of the emails won't require any action on your part. At this point, just leave these email in this folder (or delete if you are feeling brave) and just focus on keeping your inbox empty.