We regularly send and receive emails to communicate personal and work information. But tackling our overflowing inboxes has become a task most dread.
Checking our emails is crucial in ensuring we provide quick replies. Thus, although this repetitive process is frustrating, it is necessary.
This is why we need to change the negative mindset we have associated with the daily routine of checking emails and to find ways to start caring about this process as it is still important.
Why Checking Your Emails is Still Important
With the introduction of instant messaging, social media platforms, and text messages, many feel email is an “old school” method of communication.
But this is far from the truth.
On average, we send 306.4 billion emails every day and it does not seem to be going away any time soon. The number is expected to grow, reaching 347.3 billion in 2023.
Here are a few more reasons why you need to reconnect with caring about checking your emails at work and at home.
- The longer it takes you to respond to e-mails, the less satisfied people are with you.
- Sometimes you have to open emails to get to the real work, assignments, and task instructions.
- The information that exists in emails become hard to decipher the longer they are left untouched. They end up as pieces of unclear info that is difficult to prioritize.
- Be prepared for your schedule to become busier as those who do not receive a response via email, will want to speak with you via a meeting. If you want to free up your calendar a bit, try unclogging your email backlog.
- Sleepless nights heighten when you feel out of control. When you feel like you are falling behind in your work or communication, it tends to cause a lot of tossing and turning at night.
To improve the quality of your sleep, clear up your email inbox and stay on top of it.
5 Quick Tips to Improve Tackling Your Email Inbox
Here are a few tips to enhance the process of how you check your emails.
1. Stop all work while you check your emails.
Multitasking is not an effective way to unclog your inbox. It may also cause the delivery of poor work quality. Thus, it is vital to put your main focus on processing emails, rather than trying to do more than one task at a time. Set aside 30-60 minutes to clear your inbox.
After a few days or weeks, the backlog will clear up and the amount of time you spend on checking emails each day will lessen.
2. Unsubscribe, unsubscribe, unsubscribe.
During the time you slot each day to check emails, instead of deleting emails sent to you via subscription, click on the email and unsubscribe from it. Unless pertinent to your work or personal life, unsubscribing from unnecessary emails is crucial to cleaning out your inbox.
And stop signing up for emails to prevent receiving further unwanted communication.
3. Stop making commitments you cannot keep.
Sometimes you may find that you have over-committed your time. When your calendar becomes overcrowded, your email inbox tends to become clogged as well.
Although you want to contribute to various tasks that you care about, being selective is crucial. You must decide which responsibilities are the most important to give your time and attention to.
4. Do a mass delete of useless email messages.
If you have a lot of emails that you will not read and are not subscriptions, then check-off these emails and do a mass delete of these messages.
Instantly, your inbox will become clearer and more manageable.
5. Use filters and folders for emails.
Nobody wants to receive a high volume of emails, but some of these messages are important and you need to keep them. If you do have emails that do not require action, like copies of client invoices, create a filter that sends them directly to a folder for safekeeping.
Conclusion
Tackling your email inbox is essential in accomplishing tasks and organizing communication. Empty your inbox regularly to avoid a mass buildup.
Choose a frequency that fits into your regular work routine and to keep your emails manageable.
