Establish an Email System
GUIDE VIDEO: Join me as we Work on this Challenge Together
Simple Setup for this Game Challenge
Set up a system to keep your important and actionable email inbox front and center
- Use the star or flag system your email platform has.
- Look in settings for different view options your email platform offers. (unread or important at the top and so on)
Set up or organize your email folders
- Delete folders you don’t actually need. (ex. empty folders)
- Merge or nest folders. (make your folder names more general)
- Create action-based folders. Waiting, To read, To do, To think on
Take time to clear out unnecessary emails that are in the way
- Set a timer for 15 minutes and see how emails you can just delete.
- Archive inbox emails older than 3 months.
(You can move them to a folder labeled OLD EMAILS if that makes you feel more comfortable.)
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Deeper work and Strategy for this Game Challenge
The first step in organizing your email inbox is to know what folders or labels you need to use in your system and how you should use them.
Over the years of helping people with their email management, I have noticed a few things. Some people want to save everything, some people want to delete everything, and some people allow the desire for a completely organized email folder system to get in the way of an efficient and effective email folder system.
What we all agree on is that we need to be able to respond to the messages that need responses and find the saved email when we need to reference it.
STEP 1: Test your Current System
How long does it take you to make email decisions?
If it takes you longer than 3 seconds to determine where an email goes then you have too many folders and/or not the right folders.
- Think about which folders you can combine and rename in a more intuitive way.
- Pre-decide which emails you need to keep and why.
- Learn to take advantage of Archive and Search.
Keep in mind that the only reason to save most emails is just in case you need to refer to it again and NOT because you will need to refer to it again. If an email contains information that you need to reference often then you should save that information elsewhere in a more accessible format. Like a client profile document or operations manual, or your address book and/or calendar.
Do you have easy access to your important emails?
If important emails sit in your inbox and get buried under less important emails because you are not sure what to do with them then you need to establish a system where they will be safe and accessible.
- Use the flag or star system in your email program for emails that require immediate attention. (NOW Stuff)
- Create a folder or label for emails that require action in the future. (NOT NOW stuff)
- Create a (few) folders or labels for things you might need in the future.
Do you receive too many emails?
If you are overwhelmed by email subscriptions, spam and junk, then you need a better habit of email maintenance. HINT: You don’t need to keep most subscriptions. You will still receive receipts and account information if you unsubscribe from ads to your favorite companies.
If you consistently receive to many emails that require action, then you may need an assistant or simplify your life. (Limited bandwidth is a real thing)
Can you find what you need?
Do you find yourself panicking when you need to look for an email? Does this worry prevent you from moving emails out of your inbox? If this is the case you may benefit from understanding search better. Both Outlook and Gmail have powerful search capabilities that can ease your mind and help you find things when you need them.
STEP 2: Adjust your email folders
The following are the folders I commonly recommend. Some will resonate with you and some will not. Please feel free to shift and adjust this system so it works for you. Just be careful not to overdo it on the folders. Less is more.
NOTE: The Symbols, !, *, and numbers are used to keep the folders in a specific order in your system. These examples are my preferred order. Feel free to adjust
! NOW
For any email that triggers a task. Move emails here when you triage your email inbox. Then visit this folder and do the work. Note: you can also use the flagged and star features of your email system instead of this folder.
Once you have completed the task or nothing needs to be done about the email save it to one of the following folders. (or just delete it)
*Feel free to name it something that will catch your attention. Here are some ideas:
! IN-PROCESS, ! NOW, ! THIS WEEK , ! ACTION, ! TO-DO
The same goes for the following folders. This naming system is flexible, make it yours.
. WAITING
There are many times when you receive an email with important information that you may, or will, need later. Online orders, event tickets, travel confirmations. Sometimes these emails are only necessary if something goes wrong. In that case you need to be able to find it quickly. You also don’t need or want these emails to get lost in the long list of inbox emails.
* COMMUNICATIONS
This folder is for all the emails that contain actual conversations between you and your people. When you need to reference an email that is in here you can easily find it by doing a search for the sender via email address.
1 FINANCE
Anything to do with money should live here.
2 PROFESSIONAL
Anything to do with your work.
3 PERSONAL
Anything related to your personal life.
4 REFERENCE
Anything that doesn’t fit the above categories.
Save for Later
This is for emails that you want to save but are not sure where you should save it. Many of my clients use this instead of the more specific numbered folders listed above.
Read Think Ideas
These are for emails that you want to read or think about, but you don’t need to any time soon. Once you read it you can delete it or save it in a different location. This is also good for emails that you can ignore without any unpleasant consequences.
STEP 3: Fill in the Gaps, Make it Yours
You may find that use and need more folders. If that is the case, you can nest your more specific folders under the top-level generic folders.
Nesting is an excellent way to balance the desire to have many labels and keep things clean and simple.
NOTE: Resist the urge to add these immediately. You may not actually need this many folders. Only add the folders you need as you need them and most importantly know WHY you need them.
Here are some examples I have seen and have recommended:
Nest a folder called Waiting under !TO-DO for any email that contains information that you may need to complete a task in the future. Like airline and hotel confirmations or online purchase tracking numbers.
You can also create a folder with the name of a current and temporary project like Moving and nest it under !TO-DO and when the project is complete you can delete the label or nest it under a zVAULT label or a Past Projects Label.
Nest a folder called Tax Documents under 1-FINANCIAL to save all your receipts and other things you will need for your taxes.
Nest a folder called Resources under 2-PROFESSIONAL to save all your industry and training emails.
Remember, you should only need 3 seconds to put emails away.
If you find that you don’t use your nested folders and only file things within your top 6-10 labels, Congratulations! You have weaned yourself from too many folders.
STEP 4: Practice Search
Trusting your system is one of the keys to true productivity. Once you have filed something away there can be a fear that you will never find it again. This fear is both real and unfounded. Real, because if you are not confident in HOW to find an email in your system then it doesn’t matter if you filed it properly or not. The fear is unfounded because you can learn just a few tricks that will give you the confidence to find any email you need.
Search Trick #1: The Search Field and its Nuances
- Just start typing. Start with the name of the sender and pay attention to what appears.
- The search will instinctively try to search first for an email sender with the letters you type.
- It will try to look in the location you have open when you start your search.
- It will give you hints to other options as you search.
- Watch the box.
Search Trick #2: Look for More (arrows, dots, the word “more”)
The search box will often have a down arrow or more option nearby. Click it and see what happens. The advanced search box has options to:
- Search specific locations within your system. (inbox, all folders, trash and other folders)
- Words in just the subject line or in the entire message.
- A date range
- If it had an attachment
- And more…
Search Trick #3: Other locations
Not strictly a search trick, but in the contacts list of both Gmail and Outlook accounts is the ability to see all the email interactions you have had with an individual. No need to create folders for individual clients.
Resources associated with this Game Challenge:
BLOG POST: 3 Steps to Rescue Your Email Inbox!
WORKSHOP: Inbox Rescue Workshop – Video & Workbook
