Email remains an important tool for many of us. Here are my recommendations to effectively manage your email account.
Search is more powerful than proliferation of folders. Consistent studies show that we only go back to 4-6% of email messages after 20 days, and less than 1% after 60 days. It’s a waste of energy to have an elaborate file folder or tagging structure. A few fat folders are superior to many slim folders.
You have Inbox, Drafts, Deleted, and Sent as defaults.
Create a folder named @Action to store emails which require some action on your part. The @ sign keeps that folder up high in your alphabetic list.
Create a folder for your primary role work. This is where you’ll store most messages which you want to keep for relevance but don’t need to act upon. I know you have multiple roles, but there is little value in managing multiple folders. Name this folder something like @MainWork if you can’t be creative.
Special case: If you’re moving into a new position, create a new main work folder for that position.
Optional folders:
@WaitingFor For messages where you are waiting on someone else. You need a rhythm of checking that folder to follow-through when someone didn’t respond. I’ve given up on this approach after several tries. I just cc: myself on messages where I’m waiting for a response, and manage them in my @Action folder.
@Collecting For emails that you probably don’t need but feel like you should wait before deleting them.
Do NOT leave everything in your Inbox. Scrolling up and down to decide what to work on is inefficient and depressing. Your email program will open much faster if you don’t keep 42,000 messages in the Inbox.
You should process emails in your Inbox several times a day:
File or delete messages that you don’t need to act upon once you’ve read them
Use the 2-min rule to quickly respond to messages which take 2 min or less.
Move messages to your @Action folder if they require more than 2 min
Live out of your @Action folder, not your Inbox.
Many people are successful at scheduling 3 times a day to process and respond to emails (e.g., morning, mid-day, end of day). It’s ok if you aren’t that strictly disciplined.
Delete the messages in your Deleted folder periodically, at least monthly. Delete old emails in your @Collecting folder periodically, too.
