Coming soon... Classroom Management Bootcamp

Email Overload? How to Get Your Inbox to Zero

organization Jan 17, 2018

Conquering your inbox may seem like a pipe dream, but it's totally do-able.

Remember when "You've got mail" was a good thing?! Not so much anymore.

Is your inbox stressing your out? Are you drowning in emails? Before getting your classroom ready, get your inbox under control.

First of all, how many inboxes do you have?

Decide how you plan to keep tabs on them- when and how often. Consolidate what you can and get rid of any extra email addresses you don't really use anymore.

Next, deal with your email backlog.

Choose a set amount of time to deal with the backlog every day until your inbox is to 0. What?! Zero? That's not possible, right?! Wrong. Totally possible and do-able.

Check your email a couple times a day. That means quickly flip through it and deal with anything that is URGENT. Leave the rest.

Once a day, set aside time to deal with your new emails.

This is when you will do something with every NEW email for that day- read, file, respond, delete, something to get it taken care of and out of your inbox. Then, set a timer for 15 minutes (or whatever amount of time you choose) and deal with older emails. When the timer rings, walk away.

Rinse. Repeat every day until you are to zero.

After that, you can just deal with your new email every day to stay on top of it all. Bring your inbox to zero once a day.

Steps for Success:

Step 1: Plan for keeping tabs on your inbox (or inboxes).

Step 2: Check email (times each day set for this are: __________ ) (Set a timer for 5 minutes and go!)

Step 3: Deal with all of today's emails. (Time of day set for this is:____)

Step 4: Whittle away at the backlog. (Set a timer for: minutes and get to it!)

Step 5: Walk away when the timer rings.

Step 6: Repeat daily.

Bonus Steps:

  • As junk mail comes in, don't just delete it. Send it to your junk folder so it will quit clogging up your inbox.

  • Like digital rewards and coupons? Create a folder for them. In most mail systems, you can have those items sent directly to a selected folder instead of your inbox. When you want them, you can just look in your Coupons folder.

You can do this!



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