I’m usually pretty good at keeping my inbox under control. But recently I had a lot on my plate and a 3 week volunteer/fun trip where I only looked at the important email or the ones that needed immediate action. Which meant that for a good month and a half, any newsletter I usually read was left in my inbox.

Oh boy!

Here is how I deleted 450+ emails and took control of my inbox.

How I Deleted 450+ Emails and Organized my Inbox

NOTES:

• I personally use Outlook for all my emails. If you use something else, things might look different for you.

• If this is done for work specifically, you may not have a choice in keeping all the emails. In that case, follow the steps, but instead of deleting, sort into folders that you will create (or use labels for Google).

1. Sort by Sender or by Conversations

The first thing I do when I have to sort through a lot of emails is to organize them by sender. It’s easier for my brain to follow a theme or a subject. When it’s sorted by date, you keep reading the same stuff over and over, especially if a creator is having a launch and is sending lots of reminders or if you’ve been having a lengthy conversation on a specific project.

Some people also group their emails by conversation. Do what works for you.

2. Skim, Skim, Skim

Don’t feel the need to read everything. 

I skim a lot when there are that many emails to go through.

For quick success, I start with the senders with fewer emails (1-3) and go through them as quickly as possible.

Here are my criteria to keep a an email:

KEEP

• Am I genuinely excited to see an email from this person or creator and will jump the queue to read it first?

• Do they provide content I can skim over quickly and get to what is interesting to me?

• Is the email business or life admin related (meaning, for accounting or taxes, events coming up, etc.)?

• Is this an email I need to follow up with? If so and it will take me less than 2 minutes to do so, I will do it now. If more time is needed, I move it to a folder called FOLLOW-UP.

3. Unsubscribe & Delete

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably subscribed to a few newsletters or bought things online and suddenly you start receiving more emails than you bargained for.

Feel free to unsubscribe from emails you rarely read.

Not everything you receive is applicable to you or your current life. Maybe you were interested in something before, but you’re not into it anymore. Ditch those emails and unsubscribe without guilt

Here are my criteria to delete an email & unsubscribe from a list:

DELETE & UNSUBSCRIBE

• Do I like the ideas in principle, but find it hard or have no time to implement them?

• Are the emails related to issues, challenges or topics way above or below my level (meaning, does it apply to my life RIGHT NOW)?

• Did I use to love these emails, but my interests have changed or I have outgrown the topics?

4. Update your Preferences

Sometimes, there is an option to update your preferences, without unsubscribing completely to a mailing list.

You would get that option at the bottom of the email, or when you click unsubscribe.

If I’m still interested in the topic, but want to receive less emails, I check that option.

5. Organize Emails in Folders

For the emails you want or need to keep, organize them in specific folders (or labels for Gmail) you can create in your inbox.

Here an example of a folder system:

1. Administration

2. Development

3. Finances

4. Marketing

5. Team

6. Clients 

   • Client A

   • Client B

   • …

7. Projects

   • Project A

   • Project B

   • …

If you’re still Overwhelmed

6. Start Over

If you are still overwhelmed and you don’t have to keep emails for work, simply delete anything that is a year old or older, WITHOUT looking at it.

I know, bold move, but if you haven’t looked at an email that’s more than a year old, there is a good chance that you won’t, like EVER.

Move everything that is left to a folder called TO BE SORTED and commit to going through the stack one small increment at a time, let’s say 5 to 10 emails a day.

Keep on top of whatever comes into your inbox and take action by deciding if it’s worth reading or unsubscribing.

And there you have it!

A simple, yet effective method to sort through piles of emails.

I’m not saying this won’t suck, but at least you can go about it systematically and “cull the herd“.

If you use this method, let me know how it goes.

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