What is your system for getting through your inbox?
I check multiple email addresses in one Inbox (thank you, Google Workspace) and getting everything organized was a bit of a hurdle. But, now that my system is in place I can get through everything in a few minutes every day.
My system is currently this:
- Check email
- Add labels to emails as needed that highlight their related action item (reply, read later, etc.)
- Update to-do list with anything that came up through email
- Reply to no more than three emails
- Archive or delete any read emails
- Unsubscribe from newsletters I've not read or enjoyed in the last month or so
- Leave everything else for the next check
I do this about twice a day. This flow, plus keyboard shortcuts, keeps me out of my Inbox all day. Which allows me to focus on the work I need to do.
Developing your own system takes time, patience, and practice.
To get started I would suggest this: define where your work takes place and prioritize that space. (The majority of my work doesn't involve email.)
Then, for your inbox, prioritize what emails are the most crucial to your business. Is it replies to your newsletter? Replies and inquiries from clients? The juicy newsletters you receive every week?
From there you can separate out your inbox into spaces, folders, labels and more, depending on what you use to check your email.
And finally, you can get into the practice of opening your email only a few times per day. This was the hardest part for me. And sometimes it still is! But it's a game changer.
Need help figuring out a system for yourself? Come into The Coworking Coven and let's chat or book some 1:1 time and let's knock that off your to-do list in an hour. I have two spots left this month!
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Patty Ryan Lee
CEO | The Fiery Well, LLC
Join me inside our Free Discord this September! The Coworking Coven re-launches this Fall!
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P.S. Inbox Zero is all the hype, but we are doing a lot of it wrong says the guy that invented it: Merlin Mann.
