659. The number of unread emails I went through this saturday. That is not even too bad considering that last month it got to around 1000. Between spam, email lists I don’t remember subscribing to, new releases and actual important emails, I struggle to keep on top of it all.
If you ever struggled with a cluttered inbox, you know how overwhelming and stressful that can be. It is similar to an unmade made that makes your whole bedroom look messy.
That is why I’m sharing 4 tips on how to declutter your inbox. These are all tips that helped me declutter and stay on top of email – I’m now a proud owner of an inbox with 0 unread emails (something that didn’t happen in years!). Feel free to share your own tips, as well!
4 Tips On How To Declutter Your Inbox
Schedule Email Time
I’m guilty of mindlessly checking my email without the intention of actually doing something – I’m just wasting my energy because I will have to go through it again at some point. That is why it is important to set aside time for email. For instance, at the end of every day, schedule 10 minutes to go through your email.
As I was dealing with an overflowing inbox, I set aside some time on my day off last Sunday and took care of it with music + YouTube videos in the background.
Unsubscribe
Did you ever come across emails that you don’t even remember subscribing to? Me too. And Unroll.me is a huge help when it comes to that. This is a very user-friendly app where you can set up an account and link it to your email. It allows you to see the email lists you’re subscribed to, giving you the option to unsubscribe or keep. Just for you to have an idea, I already unsubscribed 209 emails with the help of the app.
Organize Your Emails In Folders
Another great tip to declutter your inbox is to organize emails in folders. For instance, I created folders for Personal, Blog, Work, etc. That will not only help you to declutter but also keep organized every time you need to look for a specific email.
It can be a pain in the arse to do it at first, I know, but it will save you a lot of time in the future. Then, every time you read an email, either delete, reply or save it in that specific folder.
Take Action On Every Single Email
If you’re like me, you check your email, might open a few that you’re curious about and leave them to deal with at another time. Save your energy instead and take action on each email as you read it. If it’s spam or you don’t need to keep it, delete it. If you do want to keep them, save in the right folder so you can easily reach them later on. If the email needs a reply, follow the one minute rule: if it takes less than one minutes to reply, do it right away.
See this blog post as a reminder to go declutter your inbox! 😉
Do you have any other tips to maintain a clean inbox?
I love the pics in this post! Love that marble notebook. One way I make email easier on myself is every once in a while going through an “unsubscribe” spree. I get so many coupons and emails every day that I literally have no interest in.
Thank you so much, Katherine! 🙂 I also do that as soon as I notice a lot of new subscriptions I’m no longer interest in, or don’t even remember subscribing to. x
I’m really good with my emails, I’m a bit obsessed and as soon as an email comes in I have to deal with it (if I have the time) and so I’m really good at keeping my inbox at 0, maybe it’s because my job mainly revolves around emails! Thanks for the info about unroll.me, definitely heading over there now as I have so many subscriptions I swear I never signed up for, although most of the time when you unsubscribe, I’m sure they send you more!
Alice | alicemaysnell
I wish I was more like that haha! But it’s a lot better now and I’m proud to say my inbox has 0 emails to read at the moment 🙂
You should really give it a try, it’s amazing and saves you so much time! I’m not 100% sure but I feel like I haven’t received any emails from lists I unsubscribed to via Unroll.me. I think they might block those emails or something like that. x
How do you get rid of spam emails?!!?!
http://www.petiteelliee.com
Ellie xx
If it is an email list, you can unsubscribe with Unroll.me. If it’s random emails, you can add a filter and delete it automatically. If you have gmail, you can to your inbox > tick the box of the email you want to select > go to “More” on the top > “Filter messages like this” > “Create filter with this search” > and then selection the option you want. You will have to do this for each of those emails, I’m afraid. Hope this still helps 🙂 x