Organizing Emails Made Easy

Cleaning emails are a tricky thing. Sometimes, you cannot decide which emails to delete. You end up ignoring the huge pile of emails that may (or may not) need urgent attention. These tips will help you organize your perpetually growing number of email messages.

• Turn off email notifications
  Turn off work email notifications in your home computer. Turn off personal email notifications in your work computer. There is time for everything. Know your priorities at the moment. You do not have to constantly check all your email accounts. Personal emails will keep you from doing whatever you are supposed to be doing. When it is time to work, turn on work email notifications only.
• Unsubscribe from newsletters
  It is time to say goodbye to junk emails. You do not need those emails occupying most of your mailbox space. You probably do not need them anyway. Most of those newsletters are from the websites you signed up and shopped at. Click that ‘unsubscribe’ button and just delete all those junk.
• Schedule specific times to check and respond
  The technique is to reply to messages immediately . If you cannot, you have to schedule when you will respond to them. You can check your emails first thing in the morning, or before you go on a lunch break. It really depends on your available time. If the emails need more effort, move it to your task list of the day. Decide what to do and carry out those first. You need to respond thoroughly to these emails.
• Categorize emails using folders and labels
  Those folders and labels are there for a reason so use them. It is your virtual file cabinet. Folders and labels are effective tools to rearrange your messy emails. You can search your emails efficiently if you categorize them. It will save you time. Move all email messages that relates to your work into a custom folder. Label if the emails have attachments, if they need your immediate attention, or if they are important. Lastly, if the emails are not that important, learn to delete them.
• Use keyboard shortcuts
  Clicking your mouse is overrated. You need to use your keyboard more often. It is faster than using a mouse button. You do not need to memorize all the shortcuts. At least, try to familiarize some of the important ones. If you wish to view all Gmail keyboard shortcuts, you can visit this link or you can download this Gmail cheat sheet.
• Set up separate email accounts
  If you still cannot organize emails and you still see a lot of clutter, maybe you need more than one email. Work email is strictly for work. This is the email address you give to a company or when applying for a job, or when sending business proposal. Personal email is for people you know. All your family and friends can email you on this account. Finally, junk email is for all those subscriptions and newsletters. Put all your social media notifications here. You do not have to check them anyway. Most of them are for promotional purposes only.