There is no question that email is ingrained into our daily lives both personally and professionally. Many of us have a love/hate relationship with email. We love the convenience and speed, the ability to view and answer messages anywhere at any time, and the ability to save important conversations. We hate the unwanted junk and spam emails, the stress of having it follow us everywhere, and the way too long email threads that need to be followed (just to name a few!). If your inbox seems like it’s out of control, read on for some easy ways to take charge, reduce stress and increase your productivity.

Begin by cleaning up your inbox and using filters to block spam and other unwanted messages from senders. Unsubscribe from newsletters, promotions, ads, etc. by adding the domain name to your list of blocked senders. Be aware, that not all opt-out buttons unsubscribe you – some actually activate your email address and you end up with more unwanted messages.

Organize your messages into folders and sub-folders. For my business, I like to have a folder for each of my clients and one for each of the professional groups I belong to. This is an easy way for me to locate email information quickly depending on what I’m working on. If you prefer a simpler method try using a five-folder system:

Folder 1 labeled Inbox for emails requiring immediate action.
Folder 2 labeled Today for emails needing action today.
Folder 3 labeled This Week for messages requiring a response by end of week.
Folder 4 labeld This Month for emails you need to take care of by end of the month.
Folder 5 labeled FYI for informational emails you may need to access at future date.

If you set aside specific times fo the day to check your email, you will reduce your stress and increase your productivity. Maybe twice a day works best for you or if you receive a high volume of email you may want to check it once every hour. You can develop an automated email response that will let senders know that you received their email and when you will be available to reply

You can also create criteria to automatically sort and group emails by project or client based on keywords, attachments and subject lines..

Make sure you use an email signature that includes your name, title, and company information to save time and enhance your professional appearance.

Setting up an email management system is one of the ways I can help you take care of your business.

Until next time,

Jo