So many of the people I work with are wasting hours and hours in their email in-box. They check it when they wake up, before they go to bed, and constantly throughout the day. If you are hyper focused on emails, then you’re not focusing on important work, and you’re missing out on finishing that big project or next promotion. It’s time to finally master your email overwhelm. I want you spending your workday actually working and finish those important accomplishments that you’ve been thinking about , but have not had time to focus on.
Here are three tips that you can implement immediately, and I hope you’ll get started right away.
Tip One: Have multiple email addresses. Use your main email for business only. Have a 2nd account for shopping and entertainment. This will allow you to be fully present when doing work emails with no fun or frilly distractions.
Tip Two: Sort and organize your in-box. If you’re like me, you read and enjoy email newsletters. But, this is a waste of time and ineffective when we try to squeeze this in between all of our daily tasks. Reading and learning fit in very well at the beginning and end of your day. Setup a folder that says TO READ. Auto deliver all of your newsletters here, and check this folder when you have your cup of tea and are ready to read and learn.
Tip Three: Delete what you don’t need. Many of the women that I work with have thousands of emails in their in box, and some of them are quite proud to say…8, 000! 22,000! 64,000! How many do you have?
Well, here’s how you can get this chaos under control in less than a month. It will take you anywhere from 2-20 minutes each day. Sort your emails alphabetically by sender. Review one letter of the alphabet at a time. Today, do all the A’s tomorrow, do all the B’s and so on. Letters like F and Q and X will be very quick, so sometimes I begin with them to keep motivated. Review these emails, delete what you don’t need, unsubscribe from what you don’t want and move what you need to do to right onto your calendar or to-do list. In 26 days, you’ll have shifted your email overwhelm into “I’ve got this organized!”
Remember this: How you are in life and business is a model for others, so stay out of overwhelm and keep being influential.
Read Conquer Your Email Overwhelm! and the other informative articles in this issue of Soar to Success magazine.
