In the digital age, mastering your email can be as crucial as any other business strategy. We reached out to a variety of professionals, including a productivity coach and a CEO, to bring you a dozen expert tips for managing email overload. From scheduling strategic email checks to adopting strategies for an organized inbox, discover how to keep your digital correspondence in check.
- Schedule Strategic Email Checks
- Be Ruthless With Inbox Clutter
- Limit Email Checks to Boost Productivity
- Prioritize Emails With Smart Folders
- Avoid Using Inbox as To-Do List
- Take Action for Inbox Zero
- Utilize Team Tools and Smart Inbox
- Apply the ‘Four Ds’ Technique
- Prioritize and Automate for Efficiency
- Respond Promptly to Manage Flow
- Categorize Emails for Focused Action
- Adopt Strategies for Organized Email
Schedule Strategic Email Checks
To prevent email overload, I schedule time to clear my inboxes and check my email strategically throughout the day.
Cleaning out my inboxes generally coincides with reviewing my past week and planning for the next. I delete all unnecessary emails, act on those that take a few minutes, unsubscribe from the emails Outlook says I no longer open, and the rest get shuffled off to my task management system, and I assign a due date. This leaves the email at the ever-elusive inbox zero! I try not to get too excited because even before my excitement fades, I’ve got emails coming in again. Once we acknowledge there will always be another email, we lose much of the stress and overwhelm around how many we have.
Checking email strategically throughout the day allows you to be proactive instead of reactive. “Strategic” means you set a time to check your email. Start with every hour! Then move it to every two hours and see how it feels. I do know that the more emails we send, the more we receive. Scheduling your email lets you plan when to respond and regulates your workflow.
Jamie Steele
Productivity Coach and Consultant, Tidy Your Time LLC
Be Ruthless With Inbox Clutter
I try to be fairly cutthroat about what I let sit in my inbox. Anything I know I’m never going to open, I mark as read and delete. If it’s something I don’t need to open now but might want to refer back to later, I mark it as read and archive it. And if it’s something I know I need to respond to eventually, I leave it in my inbox marked as unread, even if I’ve already opened it. I also have a strict rule about mailing lists: If I haven’t opened one of a list’s emails in more than a month, I unsubscribe. As someone who emails around half a million people a week, trust me when I say that you don’t ever need to feel bad about unsubscribing from a newsletter you don’t read anymore—staying subscribed and not engaging is worse than simply abandoning ship.
Shane Murphy
Email Manager, Moneywise.com
Limit Email Checks to Boost Productivity
Email can absolutely be a monster, but it doesn’t have to be. Over the years, I have found several key tips to taming your inbox. My favorite tip is one of the toughest, but most powerful, solutions to email overload. Only check emails 1-3 times per day; close or un-sync your inbox all other times. This reduces distractions, increases productivity, and keeps your inbox from controlling your day.
Samantha Lane
Time Management Consultant & Keynote Speaker, Origami Day
Prioritize Emails With Smart Folders
Setting up priority folders and key contacts has helped me a lot in managing email overload. I have labels such as “High Priority,” “Medium Priority,” and “Low Priority,” and I use filters to automatically sort emails into these categories based on the sender, subject, or keywords.
Marcella Merigo
Director of SEO, NP Digital
Avoid Using Inbox as To-Do List
Allocate time in the day to clear email. Batching the time like this is more efficient and reduces cognitive switching.
My main tip is to NOT use your inbox as a to-do list. Keep it to a minimum, or ideally, empty by ruthlessly filing, actioning, delegating, or deleting emails as soon as you can. If an email needs to be a task, create a task on another platform like Notion, Jira, or Teamwork.
Bonus tip: for any email mailing lists you’re on, like newsletters, set up a filter so they go into a “To Read” folder. You can then batch out time each day or week to read these in one go. This reduces the urge to read the newsletter there and then.
Andy Killworth
Senior Audience Growth Strategist (SEO), 10up
Take Action for Inbox Zero
Don’t just delete or leave your unwanted emails unread. Take action to get to inbox zero! You need to open and read the email, file it with a label, filter, or rule automation, snooze it for action later, or unsubscribe. You decide what’s in your inbox and what you want to clog up your workflow. If you don’t want the email in your inbox and taking up mental space every time you open it, take action. Inbox zero is possible!
Nicole Schroeder
Marketing Director, Wired Production Group
Utilize Team Tools and Smart Inbox
I try my best to strictly use email for outside communication. For those on our team, we use alternative communication methods such as Slack, as this makes our inboxes much more manageable. Our day-to-day affairs are often easier to discuss using these communication tools, as messages are not lost among multiple other emails. This keeps clutter down in my email, and I know any email coming in is from an outside source.
Smart Inbox is something I have also used because it helps to categorize emails that come through. This makes it easier to prioritize which ones to respond to quickly, and which ones might be more spam-related.
Wayne Mills
Head of Operations, Seven Seas Worldwide
Apply the ‘Four Ds’ Technique
In my role as CEO and co-founder of Ling, managing email efficiently has been crucial in maintaining productivity. I have found considerable value in utilizing the “Four Ds” technique: Delete, Delegate, Defer, and Do.
If an email doesn’t require my attention, I delete it. If someone else can handle it more appropriately, I delegate it. “Defer” is for when an email can’t be sorted out immediately, so I schedule a task for it in my to-do list. Lastly, if an email takes less than two minutes to reply, I tackle it instantly—“Do.”
However, my best tip is the usage of smart folders or labels feature provided by most email services. I categorize my emails based on their priority and type, like team-related, business development, user feedback, etc. This approach keeps my inbox organized and helps to focus on what truly matters.
Simon Bacher
CEO and Co-Founder, Ling
Prioritize and Automate for Efficiency
Managing an efficient inbox can be quite challenging, especially when you’re running an enterprise that attracts over 3.2 million monthly visitors. My trick to maintaining an organized inbox boils down to two principles: prioritization and utilizing technology. In my case, I prioritize emails based on their relevance and urgency. For instance, emails from our user community or my leadership team typically take precedence.
On the technology front, I lean heavily on email automation and filters. It’s crucial to set up specific filters for different types of emails; you’ll immediately notice a more organized inbox. Additionally, using a tool for bulk actions can save a massive amount of time, enabling you to delete, archive, or move emails in a few clicks. Overall, consistent clean-up and strategic use of automation tools can truly transform your email management system.
Nick Drewe
Founder & CEO, Wethrift
Respond Promptly to Manage Flow
My biggest trick is honestly just to take them as they come. While I definitely respect a good work-life balance, the thing that works best for me is to respond to whatever I can as soon as I can. By getting back to things right away, I find I’m much less likely to miss things, procrastinate, or postpone. I also find that people really appreciate that instant acknowledgment, and it often buys you much more time to tackle whatever task has actually been asked of you.
Ashley Hassard
Vice President, Client Relations, Drawbox Inc.
Categorize Emails for Focused Action
Managing email overload efficiently can be a challenge, but with a few strategic practices, you can maintain a more organized and manageable inbox. I used to struggle with the amount of emails I would receive, but by using these methods, I have been able to manage everything more effectively.
Start by categorizing incoming emails into three main types: immediate action, reference, and junk. You can do this with labels in Gmail or Outlook. Immediate-action emails require a response or action within the next 24-48 hours. Set aside dedicated time slots in your day to address these emails, allowing you to focus on them in batches and avoid the constant distraction of reacting to each new email as it arrives.
Create additional folders or labels to sort these emails in an organized way, such as by project, client, or topic. That way, you can quickly locate them when needed. It might seem tedious, but doing the work upfront will save you a ton of time from searching later on.
Courtney Dang
Intern, Achievable
Adopt Strategies for Organized Email
To manage the daunting task of email overload, the following are a few approaches to maintain an organized inbox and improve productivity:
- Set Times for Checking Emails – Designate specific times to read and respond to emails.
- Use Folders and Labels – Create folders and labels to categorize your emails (i.e., “Urgent,” “To Do,” “Read Later,” and “Archive”). This way, you can quickly sort and prioritize your emails.
- Unsubscribe from Unnecessary Newsletters and Emails – Take a few minutes to unsubscribe from those you no longer find useful.
- Utilize Email Filters and Rules – Set up filters and rules to automatically sort incoming emails into appropriate folders.
- Adopt a “Two-Minute Rule” – If an email can be responded to or dealt with in two minutes or less, handle it immediately.
- Archive Old Emails – Regularly archive emails that you no longer need immediate access to but may want to refer to later.
In implementing these strategies, you take control of your email, reducing stress, and enhancing efficiency.
David Moxley
Real Estate Advisory, BDO
