Is Email Sucking Your Soul? This 2-Step Miracle Will Save It.
Let’s face it: Inbox Zero is a pipe dream for many of us. (Up there with “Lose 5 pounds of belly fat by Friday.”)
Maybe you can achieve it some day. But if you’ve got thousands of emails in there, it’s not happening today.
So what should you do? Do an all-nighter with a red bull in hand? Lay sobbing on the bathroom floor? No. There’s hope for you RIGHT NOW.
This is a quick way to stop drowning in your inbox and start getting your time back immediately.
I know your biggest fear is that if you shuffle things out of view and out of your inbox, everything falls through the cracks.
Worry not.
This method is forget-proof.
It’ll not only save your soul, but will also cover your butt.
Today -- yes, today -- you’re going to set up three inbox folders. First, here are two quick tips for setting them up.
Tip 1: Get a quick handle on how to set up inbox folders.
In Gmail, folders are called “labels.” If you don’t know what they’re called or how to set them up in your email program, Google the phrase “how to set up folders in [YOUR EMAIL PROGRAM].” So for instance, if I have Mac mail, I’ll look up “how to set up folders in Mac mail.”
Tip 2: Name your folder so it’s at the top.
How? This is a handy trick: put a dash before the name. So, instead of naming the folder,
Waiting, you’re going to name it “-Waiting.” Here’s why: your folders will be arranged alphabetically by default. Putting a dash before the name puts it first in line, before the letter “A.”
Now, you’re set for…
Step 1 | 3 Key Folders
1. -Reply To Do
Move emails that require more than 2 minutes to respond to in the “-Reply To Do” folder. These types of emails include: requests for researching and verifying information, asking availability for an event/meeting, or taking on a delegated task. (There’s a reason you haven’t answered these yet! No one’s judging.)
2. -Reference Got emails you’re keeping “as new” just for reference? What about those “just in case I need to prove I answered” or “important address I’ll need later” messages? Any of these that you don’t need to reply to, but that you might want to access later, go in the “-Reference” folder. (A nickname for this is the “Cover Your Butt” folder.)
3. -Waiting
The “-Waiting” folder is mostly made of emails from your “sent” box. Typical emails that go in the “Waiting” folder are: sent travel emails waiting for a reply, expense reports submitted and waiting for reimbursement, or a task you delegated and are waiting for a response or result.
One that might come from your inbox: a status update saying “I’m working on this, I’ll get back to you within the week/month/century.” When it’s in this waiting folder, you’ll remember to circle back and ask, “Can I still expect this today? If not, what’s your ETA?”
This folder is one you’ll need to check periodically, so things don’t fall through the cracks. And that brings us to...
Step 2 | Get Out of Your Inbox and In To Your Calendar
Everything you need to get done must go in your calendar. So, rather than work on tasks/to-dos within your email inbox, move them out and plug them in your calendar.
This works best for those out-of-sight/out-of-mind folks, like me. All I have to do is remember to look in one place (my calendar).
Turn your emails into tasks and book the task (like an appointment) in your calendar. Copy and paste the body of the email in the “description” or note section of the appointment if you need the details.
Leave the original email in the -Reply To Do folder. When the task is completed, reply back to the original email, and move that email to the -Reference folder. Done and done.
"Great! But, I’ll probably forget to check my “-Reply To Do” folder and new emails will pile up and I’m back to where I started.”
But, wait, there’s more...
Create 2 recurring appointments in your calendar every week:
1) “Check -Reply To Do folder” every day; and 2) “Review -Waiting folder” twice a week
Take these 2 steps and don’t let email suck several hours from your week. Hit the slopes, chill with friends, or binge watch House of Cards, better yet, House of Lies, The Good Wife, or all 3.
Do you know someone who lives in her inbox or could use tips to improve his productivity? Please share this article with her or him.
What other things are sucking your soul? Leave a comment below – I'd love to hear.
