We all know how important it is to declutter your things. There\u2019s an entire movement surrounding the topic. Just look at the Marie Kondo phenomenon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Decluttering your physical space is decluttering your mind, but we often forget the space in between: the digital space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For most jobs these days, email is an essential tool. We receive emails from clients, bosses, and colleagues. Professionalism shows in the way we address these emails. They\u2019re a big part of our lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It stands to reason, then, that the importance of decluttering our inboxes is just as important in order to work with a clear working mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are some steps to in decluttering your inbox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Often, we leave our read messages in our inbox, even when we have no need for them. It\u2019s time to start putting these messages in the non-recycling bin. Unless you\u2019re paying for unlimited space in your email, these messages are just taking up unnecessary space, and are just a future nuisance for when you actually need to start sorting through the messages you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We all have subscriptions to certain websites that we no longer follow. Maybe it\u2019s because you grew out of it, the emails aren\u2019t as useful as you thought they were, or maybe this was something you subscribed to in that one event where you had to subscribe to the newsletter before they could give you the freebie you wanted.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stop the influx of messages you\u2019re not really reading. You\u2019re not doing anyone any favors. In fact, you might be affecting their email marketing stats negatively by leaving these messages unread. Unsubscribe from the email list. You should see the link at the bottom of their emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just like files have folders, emails have labels. Create them, pick a color for each label, then group the emails under their respective categories.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once you\u2019ve done this, make sure to archive these messages so that they can disappear from your inbox. No, archiving doesn\u2019t mean deleting. You\u2019ll still be able to find these emails through the search bar or if you look through the labels you created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With that said, archiving is your best friend. Don\u2019t know what to do with this email? Archive. You might need this email in the future? Archive. Just want to make your email list cleaner? Archive. The message doesn\u2019t fall under any label? Archive anyway; it\u2019ll still be there even when you can\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By now, you should ideally only have a handful of messages left in your inbox. These are the emails that are high in your priority list and should be replied to immediately. If they\u2019re more than a handful, then you should be replying to them, even if only to let them know you\u2019ve read the email.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019ve done all that, congratulations! You\u2019ve decluttered your inbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, that wasn\u2019t so hard, was it?
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