Digital clutter affects our lives in the same way physical clutter does. It leaves you feeling distracted, overwhelmed and overburdened. Physical clutter is an easier problem to tackle as you can see the clutter piling up in front of you. Digital clutter, including email inbox clutter affects our lives in a similar manner.
Below we’ll show you a process for handling your email inbox clutter. This problem is present in most of our lives, and is a natural byproduct of living in our increasingly technological age. However, you’ll notice that by being in control of your email inbox you’ll find yourself much more productive.
Why Is Email Clutter So Bad?
Email clutter is one of the main culprits of our digital clutter. Our email inboxes tend to become cluttered for a variety of reasons. But, the most common are because we use email every single day, email is one of the most preferred methods of communication for business and personal settings, and most of our email messages require a response, so they tend to pile up.
How To Get Rid Of Email Clutter
Getting rid of email inbox clutter for good requires an initial purge followed by a strategy to manage your incoming messages. You’ll find both of these below.
1. Unsubscribe
Over time we tend to subscribe to a ton of email newsletters that no longer serve us. These tend to pile up and as a result our inboxes are flooded with messages we’re just going to delete anyways.
Take some time to go through every email in your inbox and see if this email is really serving you. If it’s not bringing you any value, then consider unsubscribing. If you’re present on any social media networks you should also consider unsubscribing from any automatic updates or notifications.
2. Use Folders
It’s much easier to organize in advance before all of your emails start to pile up. Before you start a new project or a new correspond you know is going to require several emails make sure to create a folder.
You can even create an automatic filter that will send messages from a specific email address directly to the folder. This will save you filing time, and will let you breathe easy knowing all of your emails re being delivered to their respective folders.
3. Use The One-Touch Method
A lot of us tend to stare at our overwhelming inboxes, only to close the window and come back a few minutes later. A great rule to put in place is the one-touch method.
If you can process an email in a minute or less, then take care of it then and there. This will stop emails from piling up, and make it so you don’t forget to reply to an important email.
Replying when the email is fresh in your mind will also free up mental space, as you won’t be thinking about replying to that email when you should be focusing on other things.
4. Set Email Times
Instead of spending your entire day in your email inbox, set s specific window during the day when you’re going to be checking email.
You can even setup a browser blocker that will stop you from replying to emails, and even accessing your email inbox outside of your desired time range.
There you have it. Implement the steps above and you’ll be able to breathe easy with a minimalist inbox, instead of one bursting at the seams.
Feel free to reach out to our creative team today if you have any questions regarding your online presence.
