These days most of our important digital and personal correspondence occurs through email. Therefore, it is always important to keep the inbox clean and organized. If you use your mailbox on a daily basis, chances are your inbox might look like a mess of unwanted messages, promotional newsletters, marketing mailing, and other junk emails. You might be knowing that it’s crucial to organize all the messages but the thought of cleaning your inbox can sometimes be overwhelming. Here in this article, we are going to discuss some of the most important rules that can help you to have a neat and clean mailbox.
Set Up Filters, Rules, And Labels
Nowadays, almost all online mailing services have a set of rules, filters, or labeling systems that can help the user to delete, move, and even organize all incoming emails. You can try using all these features in order to organize your mailbox and get only the important messages first. In case you don’t want to do it manually, you can try out an email organizer app or an inbox management software. These tools can help you in organizing your mailbox while filtering all the spam emails.
Give Quick And Short Replies When Possible
While you are replying to a message, try keeping it short and simple and never take too much time replying to a single email when this is not required. It is always a good idea to spend less than 5 minutes on a single message and avoid anything writing letters that are longer than three paragraphs.
Unsubscribe From Newsletters And Disable All Notifications
You might find it useful to subscribe to a promotional newsletter or any other mailing list. However, these newsletters can often cause a lot of distraction while cluttering your mailbox. Always unsubscribe from newsletters or emails that you aren’t following for a long time. The same is also true for all social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. The best way to avoid clutter is by disabling all social notifications about posts, followers, likes, etc. The clutter made from these social media sites can surely distract you in the long run.
Make Use Of Auto Replies And Canned Responses
In case you find yourself using the same set of email replies over and over, try creating a list of frequently done replies so that you can copy and paste it whenever needed. This way you will save much time and become more productive in managing your mail communication. It is also a good idea to send voice messages instead of writing long letters to reduce the time you are spending on work communication with your colleagues.
Delete All Unnecessary Items
After you have followed all the above steps, and still there are too many emails that are weeks old, try deleting them. In case you are facing any difficulties in deleting old emails, always use a folder, and then move your old messages into that particular folder. You can delete the folder later or whenever you feel necessary. This step can really help in building a clutter-free inbox.
If your inbox is filled with unread or unwanted messages and if you don’t know what to start with, always use an email cleaner application. This tool will help to simplify email management by using various features such as labeling, grouping, archiving, and organizing your messages.
