How to Catch Up With Email
If your email inbox is so full that you're letting important work or personal messages slip through the cracks, design a system to whittle down the list. Catch up and keep up with electronic mail to give co-workers, friends and family some much-needed attention.
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Instructions
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Sort the contents of your inbox each morning. Keep messages that need immediate attention, move those that you can deal with later and store some (like receipts from online orders) and trash others (like mass email jokes or chain letters) without even reading them.
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Address the vital emails in date order, even if a newer one interests you more. Continuously addressing current messages will prevent you from cutting through the backlog of older ones.
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Keep new messages from getting lost in the shuffle by moving each email from your inbox as soon as you've read it. If you've replied but want to keep the original message, store it in an "Archive" folder. If you need to re-address the issue later, stow it in "Follow Up." Delete everything else.
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Vow to get the number of messages to zero before you turn off the computer. Designate a specific time each day to concentrate on email. If you check it repeatedly, you won't have time to complete other tasks and getting through your inbox could take twice as long.
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Tips & Warnings
When you want to keep an email for sentimental reasons, print it out and then delete the file. Seeing it in your inbox may tempt you to read it repeatedly, stealing time from other messages.
If you know it will be several days before you make your way through your entire inbox, consider sending a mass mailing to let everyone know you'll be replying shortly. This way, they won't have to wonder if you even received their messages.
