Zero Out Email Daily

I often have a daily battle with my In Box! My typical email capacity daily is around 250 incoming messages. To manage it, I make a daily rule to get my ‘inbox to zero’. To do so, follow this strategy:

1. Scan e-mail
2. Delete junk mail in batches to minimize noise
   1. If you can block senders in a junk folder, do so to cut down on spam
3. Scan the remaining messages and decide whether anything is urgent
   1. If so, act on that as a first priority
   2. Once completed, delete or file the email ONLY if you must refer to it in the future.
4. Scan remaining emails and determine what action is required:
   1. I Must Answer: Respond, then Delete or File
   2. I Must Do Something:
      1. Today – Add item to task list, then Delete or File
      2. This Week – Add item to task list for appropriate day, then Delete or File
   3. Important Info/No action = File
   4. Not Important Info/No need to keep = Delete
5. Repeat for every e-mail until In Box is empty

Overall Tips for Email Management

• Keep Email sub-files to no more than 3 tiers deep. It makes it easier to archive and find items later
• Only keep emails you must have for later reasons
• Print only items that require a paper transaction
• Create E-mail sub-file category naming structures that are meaningful to you and “parrot” your paper filing systems

How do you prevent your In Box from consuming you?  Please share your wisdom and tips in the comment box below!