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A Clutter-Free Inbox – Step 1 of 4

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How many e-mails are currently in your in-box? I know individuals who keep hundreds of items in their inbox. YIKES! Just writing this amount overwhelms me. I realize that some people do not check e-mail often, but there are ways to manage your inbox to keep that overwhelmed feeling at bay.

As an owner of about ten e-mail accounts, I check each one at least once a week. My personal e-mail gets checked more frequently, numerous times a day. In my personal account, I currently have 6 read e-mail and 0 unread e-mails. My junk e-mail account (used for purchasing merchandise and registering for promotions, free items, coupons, etc.) has 4 read e-mails and 57 unread e-mails. Most of these items are . . . well . . . junk, but I still scan through to catch the information I may need.

Though there are a number of ways to manage your inbox, I follow the same 4-steps for each of my accounts.

STEP ONE:

Delete unnecessary items.

I immediately delete any item I don’t need, including advertisements, store announcements, savings/clearance notices of stores I am not planning to visit within the next month, etc. I also usually delete the “FWD: FWD:” messages. These are usually sent from well-meaning friends and family with tips, virus alerts, funny stories, etc. If I have the time and know the sender, I MAY read the message. However, in an effort to save time, I usually delete these items.

Deleting items can be done quickly. I deal with the 10 or so messages I can see at one time on my screen. I will click on the box to the left-hand side of any messages that need to be deleted. As I click in the box, the message will be highlighted. I will highlight all unwanted messages which could be anywhere from 4 to 10 of those messages. Then I click the DELETE button which is next to the REPLY button on the title bar. All those highlighted messages have now been moved to the TRASH. The next set of messages now moves up and I repeat this process until I have touched all unwanted messages. This process takes me between 5-10 minutes. I am then left with the messages I need to read.

Stay tuned next week for STEP TWO on how I manage my inbox. Do you have a quick and efficient way to weed through your list of messages? If so, please leave a comment with your tips.

A Clutter-Free Inbox – Step 2 of 4

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Is your unread inbox count shrinking, yet? You can click on STEP ONE if need to review or if you missed last week’s tip. Sorting through will take time. Just keep working through those e-mails to delete unwanted items. As you scan through those e-mails, are you finding any companies or individuals that keep repeating? If so, your e-mail address may be on a mailing list. If so, here is what you can do:

STEP TWO:

Unsubscribe to mailing lists.

I have found that after placing an on-line order with a company, I may be added to their monthly, or sometimes weekly, newsletter and sales. When I find that I am getting e-mails from the same company repeatedly, i.e. Toys R Us, Amazon, etc., I open up one of the messages and scroll to the bottom. Somewhere in the last few paragraphs should be a link to “unsubscribe.” I click on the link, verify my e-mail address to be removed, and send the message. Depending on the site, I may get messages up to a week later. But once my e-mail address has been removed, those e-mails are no longer cluttering my inbox.

Managing your inbox may take some time. As you work to unsubscribe, you may find the clutter disappearing. Next week, I will try to help you manage SPAM in your inbox. What about you, do you have any tips for ridding our inboxes of unwanted items?

A Clutter-Free Inbox – Step 3 of 4

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Are you making progress on your e-mail account? If you have way too many e-mails to weed through, you may just need to pick a date (i.e. February 1) from which to start. Then delete all e-mail prior to that date. You can then start fresh and work to stay on top of current messages.

In working through my e-mails each week, I am sharing how I work to keep my inbox clutter-free by following 4 steps. In case you missed the first two, you may read them by clicking the following links: STEP 1 and STEP 2. Today, I will cover Step 3: Identifying and Deleting Spam.

STEP 3:

Identifying and Deleting Spam.

1.       As I scan through the remaining e-mails in my inbox, I look for names of senders that I don’t know.

2.       I then look at the subject line. I notice the information listed (i.e. lottery winner, politics, employment, prescriptions, “free items with participation,” etc.).

3.       If the e-mail subject line contains information that I will not even consider reading or researching, then I mark it. I click on the little box to the left of the message.

4.       I continue to scroll through my e-mails marking all items from which I never want to receive e-mail messages again.

5.       I then locate the SPAM button on the Title bar of my e-mail program. In Yahoo!, the button is identified as SPAM between the FORWARD and MOVE buttons. In Gmail (Google), the button reads REPORT SPAM between the ARCHIVE and DELETE buttons.

6.       When I press the SPAM button, all those unwanted e-mails get sent to my SPAM folder. When I get more messages from those senders, my account will automatically send those messages to the SPAM folder. This action will help keep your inbox spam-free.

7.       I will then delete my SPAM folder in Yahoo!. In Gmail, the spam is automatically deleted.

By the time I have deleted unneeded items (step 1), unsubscribed to sales and newsletters (step 2), and identified and deleted spam (step 3), I should have the messages I would like to read remaining in my inbox. Next week, I will conclude this series on keeping your inbox clutter-free.

A Clutter-Free Inbox – Step 4 of 4

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If you have been following this series and applying STEP ONE, STEP TWO, and STEP THREE, then your inbox should house only those e-mails you need. In my personal e-mail account, I usually have a minimum of five e-mails each morning. I handle them the following way:

STEP FOUR:

Touching each remaining e-mail.

1.       Click once on the e-mail. Since I have the preview option (located in the settings options) turned on, I can preview the e-mail on the screen.

2.       I then read the e-mail.

  • If the message requires a quick response, I reply immediately.
  • If the message requires a lengthy response, then I click on the next e-mail message.

3.       After I’m finished reading the e-mail, I will do one of the following:

  • Delete messages I do not need.
  • Move messages I need to keep to folders.
  • Leave the read e-mail in my inbox if further action is needed (i.e. need to add to calendar, respond, print, etc.)

By the time I touch each e-mail, I should have no more unread messages in my inbox. All messages have been read, deleted, filed, or spammed. My inbox is clean, organized, and manageable.

Starting out you might have a hundred or thousands of e-mails from which to sort. The 4-step process might seem cumbersome, but as the spam and unsubscribed messages disappear, the process becomes easier. If you spend 10-15 minutes each day following these 4 steps, then your inbox can quickly become clutter-free.

Junk E-mail Account – Part 1 of 2

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Keri J.)

In using time wisely, I have setup my personal e-mail account for family, friends, payment notifications, daily deals (i.e., Groupon.com), and other information I desire to know quickly.

Since I keep my personal e-mail account open on my computer and laptop, I check my e-mail 5 or more times a day. I update this account each day by keeping it clutter-free.

For more tips on keeping your inbox clutter-free, you can read my four-step series: Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, and Step 4.

Since I request free products, print coupons, play sweepstakes (every once in a while), and submit rebates, I prefer to use another e-mail account for these items. When I request free products, I usually am also subscribing to a free newsletter and updates from that company.

To keep my personal e-mail inbox clutter-free, I use a junk e-mail account for correspondence that does not need my immediate attention. Then I check this junk e-mail account about once a week, deleting unnecessary items and reading items of interest.

My current personal and junk e-mail accounts are with Yahoo!, but I also like Google’s Gmail accounts. So, in Part 1 of this two-part series, we will setup a junk e-mail account in Yahoo!. In Part 2, we will use Gmail for a junk e-mail account. You can choose one or both depending on your needs.

To setup a junk e-mail account in Yahoo!:

1. Type www.yahoo.com into your Internet browser

2. Under the Search bar on the right side, click “New here? Sign up”

3. Register for your new account

4. Fill in your name and personal information

5. Choose an e-mail name for this account – Remember your Yahoo! ID. You will need this information to log back into your account.

6. For the alternate e-mail account, I use my personal e-mail address. If I should forget the password to this new account, I can reset it from my personal e-mail account.

7. Verify the code

8. Click “Create My Account”

9. Yahoo! will then congratulate you and send you a confirmation e-mail to your alternate e-mail account.

To go to your Yahoo! account:

1. Click on “Continue” after Ready to experience Yahoo!?

2. Your welcome e-mail will be in your account.

To log back in to Yahoo!:

1. Type www.yahoo.com into your Internet browser

2. Under the Search bar on the right side, click “Sign in”

3. Type your Yahoo! ID and password, and click “Sign in”

Now when you need to give out your e-mail address, you can use this account and keep your personal account clutter-free. 🙂

Having a junk e-mail account assists me in using time wisely. By keeping my accounts separate, I save time and energy getting the most important information in my personal account and using the junk account for items that are not time sensitive. If you struggle with a clutter-free inbox, then a junk e-mail account may be a solution for you.

Question: What do you think about having separate e-mail accounts? To add your answer, please click the Leave your Comment button.