1. Allocate a specific time for your emails every day  

An average worker checks their email 74 times a day (the OCD we just mentioned). Although email may seem less intrusive than a phone call, it can ultimately create far more stress. You often end up worrying about it all day without really acting on it. This is undoubtedly a source of anxiety. The first step in solving this is to allocate a fixed amount of time every day to address email.

Leaving email open all day long will mean that notifications, alerts, and beeps will interrupt the workflow and disrupt focus. Schedule specific blocks of time just for email. And get rid of them as fast as you can. Also, while you do this, ensure you’re not multitasking. If need be, turn off your cell phone or seclude yourself from the world to do this in utmost silence. The result will make you feel like a warrior and also release your mind from all your worries.  

2. Hit that “delete” button  

As clichéd as it may sound, hitting the delete button is therapeutic. There are always those emails that have been lying unattended in your inbox for ages. The sender has probably forgotten about it by now or is tired of following up with you. It doesn't make sense to reply to any of these (not that you have the time to). So let go of your guilt and your ambition to respond to them one day.

Be brutally honest with yourself, think practically, and delete what you don’t need or won’t act on. Delete as much as you can. Say goodbye to all those things you are not going to miss. While you are on your deleting spree, don’t forget to “report spam” on anything that seems unfamiliar or forced. For the emails you aren’t ready to delete just yet, archive them. The probability of you never needing them again is probably very high, but if you do, you will breathe a sigh of relief. 

3. Labels, Folders, Categories, and Tags to the rescue  

There is no universal rule that applies to the creation of categories. Every person is different and responds according to their personal preferences. It’s really about figuring out what works best for you. For example, someone in operations who attends meetings once a month may need just one meeting folder, whereas someone in sales who heads out every day for multiple meetings will benefit from having several. Prioritize, group, filter, and sort emails into categories or tags to create an organized inbox. The more refined this process is, the easier it will be to locate essential and specific emails when needed. You can also create parent categories and subcategories for various projects or clients to enhance your experience. 

Organizing Your Gmail Inbox with Custom Labels

At work, you can create categories for things like company announcements, team collaboration & more.  Here’s how you can do it in Gmail: 

• Head to your inbox and look at the left sidebar menu in full view. 

• You will see “manage labels” under the “categories” tab. 

• Click on “Create a new label” under it. 

• Every label is a folder, and you can name it accordingly. 

• Make sure you use search-friendly words to describe the content of the email so that it can be easily searched for and found. 

4. Convert your group email accounts into shared inboxes  

We’ve all been part of group emails that feel as overwhelming as an overactive WhatsApp group, endless messages, too many people looped in, and a flood of notifications that may not even be relevant to you. Sometimes, only one employee needs to take action, but a dozen others have to sift through the email chain anyway.

What if there were a better way to manage these emails without clogging everyone’s inbox? 

• Delegate emails amongst your team without using forwards or CCs. Drive ownership and accountability, ensuring that everyone has a clear understanding of their tasks. 

• Automate routine tasks such as assigning, tagging, and changing the status of emails. For instance, all emails from a specific customer can be routed to Cindy from customer support. 

• Hiver’s Email Notes make collaboration effortless. @mention teammates and have internal discussions in a separate panel that is located right next to the primary email. This helps separate internal and external conversations.

• Tag emails based on type or priority to keep conversations organized and easy to find. Create, color-code, and share tags with your team for better visibility and faster access to important emails. 

• Track key performance metrics such as response and resolution time for emails. Get visibility into email volume and understand how many emails are work in progress, closed, and yet to be assigned. 

5. Flag or create SLAs for emails that need ‘more’ attention  

There will be emails that require a well-thought-out and framed response. Spontaneity will not work in such cases. For emails you don't have time for right away, flag them and come back to them once a week during your downtime. 

Starring the emails will remind you that you need to get back to something that requires your attention. You can sort these emails so that they appear at the top. you can also mark the emails as unread so that you can respond to emails that are the most time-pressing. An efficient way to do this would be to allocate a specific time at the start of the weekend, let’s say a Friday, to complete everything in one go. Creating such a scheduled window for responses will also help me come back to a cleaner inbox on Monday and start fresh. You can also develop SLAs (Service Level Agreements) to prioritize incoming emails based on pre-defined rules. 

For example, you can set up triggers to automatically identify and flag urgent emails from important clients or customers, ensuring they receive prompt attention and response. 

6. Unsubscribe or “Mass Unsubscribe”  

There have been many times when you've sent promotional emails that you've never needed. We seldom realize when we accidentally let the “tick” for promotional email subscription go unchecked while signing up for any website. Be wary of what you are signing up for, and subscribe to only those emails that you genuinely want to see in your inbox. Look out for patterns, such as when you regularly archive or delete the same subscriptions. Perhaps it’s time to unsubscribe from them. You can also aim a notch higher and mass unsubscribe if the number of subscriptions is too overwhelming for you to do it manually. 

Clean Email: Simplifying Inbox Management and Protecting Your Privacy

Clean Email is another great tool that helps you unsubscribe from all unwanted newsletters. Its Unsubscriber feature shows all your subscriptions in one place, making it easier to choose the newsletters that you no longer want to receive. You can either opt out of a newsletter or send it to the Read Later folder, which means that you will not see these emails in your inbox but can easily access them from a separate folder whenever needed. The service offers a subscription model and includes a free trial for cleaning up to 1,000 emails. And in case you’re wondering, Clean Email is a privacy-oriented solution. It doesn’t collect or sell any user email data to third parties. It analyzes only email headers and other metadata, keeping your personal information private. 

7. Set up default replies  

If you find yourself typing the same message over and over again, you can create your email templates for similar responses. Create different categories based on the kinds of replies you send, and you can customize them accordingly for various replies. Thus, creating email templates will help you save a lot of time, which otherwise writing an email from scratch would require. 

Many companies and individuals follow this protocol when you contact them. They create a standard set of replies to roll out, adding just a touch of personalization. It can also include powerful newsletters that you subscribe to that help you grow personally as well as professionally. The remaining 80% is not essential and is mostly junk. Twenty percent of emails require immediate attention and a reply. They need to be given the highest priority. 

Follow the two-minute rule for these emails: If it takes less than two minutes, do it now. 

8. Set up filters to send emails where they belong  

You swear by this simple hack. These filters take care of what you would like to do with any incoming email manually, whether it is to send it to the appropriate folder or delete it (feels so good). It’s easy to set up Gmail filters. Open your inbox and click the down arrow on the right side of the “search” box. Enter your search criteria in the available boxes, such as:

• Email senders

• Receivers

• Subject

• Keywords

• Attachment

• Chat details etc

Click on the option “create filter with this search” on the bottom right, and choose what you would like to do with those emails. 

9. Multiple inboxes to the rescue  

Along with your primary inbox, you can create mini inboxes within it according to sections, email types, clients or topics. This is a great way to organize those hundreds of emails that accumulate in your primary inbox over weeks, months, and years in a haphazard manner. 

Here’s how you can do this on Gmail: 

• Click on the top right corner of your primary Gmail inbox. 

• Select “Settings” under the dropdown. 

• Click on “Inbox” in the navigation and search for “multiple inboxes” in the dropdown. 

• Set the filters. 

• So if you wish to organize your emails by today, yesterday, and older than 7 days, here’s how you make the changes in the multiple inboxes settings: 

On clicking “Save Changes”, here’s what your inbox should look like: This feature also helps to select the maximum number of emails that can appear in your inbox at one time. It's a great way to organize your inbox and maintain an inbox zero. 

10. Apply the 80/20 Rule  

The 80/20 principle can be applied to almost all aspects of our lives, including email management. Also known as “The Pareto Principle” or “The Law of the Vital Few,” it states that 80% of the effects in a situation come from 20% of the causes. To effectively manage email, too, we’ve got to focus on only 20% of the inputs that lead to 80% of the results. The focus needs to shift to 20% of the emails that we derive the highest value from. These can be emails from top clients, emails related to recent projects that will help you achieve breakthrough work, speaking opportunities, invitations to workshops, etc. As for the remaining 80%, take some time to reply or follow any of the tips here to manage them better (or delete them). 

11. Pause your inbox  

If you are overwhelmed by the number of emails at the moment and do not want to deal with at the moment, you can take control of when you send or receive them. Boomerang is an easy-to-use tool that acts as a personal secretary, reminding you if you don’t hear back from someone. It also helps you remove messages from your inbox until you need them. You can also write an email while you're on the go and have it arrive exactly when you want it to be in the inbox. You can keep your inbox from receiving emails for as long as you want and from whatever source you want. Boomerang also offers a range of additional features, including scheduling emails, setting up auto-responses, and hiding emails until you're ready to view them. In the free plan, you get 10 free message credits.  

12. Touch it once  

As the name suggests, the “touch-it-once” principle relies on making a decision right away. It is also referred to as the Only Handle It Once (OHIO) method. Revisiting the same email repeatedly can be a significant waste of time. So you touch it once, take whatever action needs to be taken, close it, and move on to the next priority.

The touch-it-once principle may seem like it’s easy, but it can get a little hard to follow when it comes to email because we tend to defer replying to emails, with the thought lurking in our minds for a long time. However, maintaining this mindset is crucial, especially since we all receive a massive volume of emails every day. This will prevent you from being constantly distracted by unreplied emails, which can significantly lower your productivity. Choose your words well so that there is no room for ambiguity or misinterpretation. 

13. Disable social media email notifications  

You know you know that already, but it can make its way inside your head even against the strongest of restraints. You do not need to know who commented on what photo on Facebook or who recently retweeted your meme, at least not right away. Every little thing that goes on in your social media feed invades your inbox and ends up creating thousands of unread emails. If you currently receive emails from social media platforms, you must be aware of the catastrophe it can cause in your inbox. Log in to your accounts and deactivate all email notifications. This will rid your inbox of thousands of emails every month. You need to do the same for any other kind of email app notifications. 

14. Deal with group emails right away  

If you’re tagged in group emails (for example, all those birthday emails you get in your company inbox), at your work or school, make sure to create a filter to assign them to a specific folder. These emails are usually not very important or time-critical, and hence it’s better if they don’t show up in the main inbox. That’s checking these emails, the last of your priorities. 

15. Schedule a time to clean your inbox  

Over the week, your email inbox might be cluttered with a lot of emails. Make sure to keep aside a few minutes every day to clean up your inbox. If you don’t schedule a particular time, the clean-up task often gets delayed. You can set a calendar reminder to notify yourself of the task. 

16. Invest in tools  

You can’t emphasize enough how beneficial & necessary it is to invest in good email tools. It has personally helped me a lot in keeping things organized and managing you emails better.

Here are a few email tools that you would recommend: 

Boomerang 

We’ve mentioned this tool earlier in our post. Apart from helping you schedule emails, Boomerang allows you to remove those emails that don’t need your attention or that you’re waiting to follow up on. 

HubSpot 

HubSpot offers a broad set of free email marketing tools. The platform’s drag-and-drop email builder and its numerous goal-based templates let you build and deploy email campaigns in just a fraction of the time. You can use smart rules to send out personalized emails at scale, while its A/B testing feature gives you all the insights necessary to boost your campaign’s open and click-through rates. 

Sortd 

Sortd is another excellent tool for Gmail users. It serves multiple purposes, right from sales to teamwork. The best part is that it works right from your Gmail inbox. It enables you to create buckets where you can drag and drop emails, something similar to Trello. 

EmailAnalytics 

EmailAnalytics is another essential tool if you’re looking to manage your email. It visualizes your email activity (or that of your team), showing you things like how many emails you send and receive every day, who your top senders and recipients are, and how quickly you respond to emails on average. 

Streak 

Streak is another powerful tool for managing your Gmail. Some features include thread splitter, send later, mail merge, view tracking & more. You can start using the professional plan for $49 per month. 

17. Use keyboard shortcuts  

Gmail Keyboard shortcuts have personally helped me to stay productive. You know it can be hard to remember these shortcuts in the beginning, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, it takes your email productivity to another level. To enable shortcuts, you just need to go to the settings in the top right-hand corner of Gmail. Under the General tab, you’ll find Keyboard shortcuts, just turn it “on” & click on the save button. 

Here’s a small list of your favorite shortcuts: 

• C: The C key opens up a new compose window. 

• D: The D key opens up a compose window in a new tab. 

• S: In the Inbox view, the S key allows you to star an email; pressing the S key again unstars the email. 

• N & P: The N & P key lets you scroll through a conversation in a thread. 

When you need to expand a conversation, just hit the Enter key. 

Pro Tip: Create a sticky note for the email shortcuts and stick it at your workspace. It will help you learn faster. 

18. Read Top Down, Write Bottom Up  

Here’s a small hack that you stole from Atish Davda, CEO of EquityZen. He advises consuming emails by thread in reverse chronological order and responding to them in chronological order. This has been quite useful for you.

Atish Davda further says: This nuanced hack takes advantage of the fact that some people respond to emails immediately, sometimes triggering an email “tennis match,” which eats up the hour you set aside to tackle your entire inbox, leaving you feeling behind. 

19. Use more than one email account  

You cannot stand order confirmation emails or credit card reminders on your work email. These emails only clutter your inbox & make it difficult to spot the critical emails. You use a different email address for all these low-priority emails. You can use this in two ways: either by creating a different email or by creating an alias address using your current account. 

20. Turn off notifications  

I’d recommend turning off email notifications if you’ve turned them on, either on your browser, mobile, or email client. According to a study from the University of California, “After a notification has forced us to switch between tasks, it can take us about 23 minutes to get back to the task at hand”. It’s better to turn off your email notifications. 

21. Take action immediately  

Taking quick action on emails can help keep your inbox under control. The whole idea is not to delay the task, but to complete it immediately. Whether it’s an email reply, email forward, or deletion, make sure to act on that moment itself. The faster the action, the better it is. You know it’s pretty challenging to make it a habit, but once you do, your life becomes significantly easier. 

22. Follow the 1-minute rule  

If it takes one minute to reply to an email, reply to the email immediately. It takes more effort if you leave the email sitting & being constantly reminded that you need to reply. This hack will help me clear large chunks of email quickly.

23. Avoid over-subscribing to newsletters or updates  

You know how tempting it is to subscribe to newsletters that can be useful. But from your personal experience, the majority of these newsletters go unread. Before subscribing to newsletters, think twice. When signing up for any tool, there are times when you are asked if you want to be notified about updates; make sure to uncheck this box. Not all tools ask for your permission, so you’ll have to unsubscribe manually. 

24. Send few, receive few  

As emails become more ubiquitous, it is much easier to correspond through them. However, if you’re prone to sending too many emails, especially for minor things, prepare to receive the same treatment. Email also gives rise to long, convoluted threads of written exchanges, which easily get out of hand. Reducing the volume of outgoing emails minimizes the stream of incoming replies and responses. You’ll be doing your inbox a favor and contributing to a more focused, organized digital workspace that hinges on front-loading value. 

Streamlining Communication: Embracing Email Alternatives

Switching to email alternatives, such as instant messaging, project management tools, or even phone calls, will prioritize concise and clear communication. You’ll no longer be compelled to draft lengthy emails with salutations and discourses, and get straight to the meat of the update and discussion. With such a positive, intentional, and meaningful communication culture, you’ll save time and effort and get more done in less time. 

25. Know When to Send Emails   

Email management is as much about the kind and volume of emails you send as it is about the type and volume of emails you receive. 

There’s a famous saying: 

If you want to receive fewer emails, send fewer emails. When it comes to sending them, it would depend on the nature of your work. That’s because there are certain functions where employees do most of their daily work on emails. Those working in customer success, for instance, must regularly reach out to existing clients. 

Optimizing Communication Channels for Clarity and Efficiency

Usually, email is the preferred channel for this. You will ensure that your communications are crisp and clear. One way you can reduce the number of emails you send is to choose which conversations you prefer to have via email and which you would rather have over a call. If you are simply informing a customer about an update, email would work. But if you want to check in with a customer and find out what they feel about using your product or service, do that over a call. 

Ensuring Deliverability: The Importance of Email Verification

This could result in numerous back-and-forth emails. For functions such as Sales and Lead Gen (teams that send emails in bulk), you need to confirm whether or not your emails are being delivered properly. If your emails hit the spam folder or bounce frequently, then there’s a chance your domain gets blocked. That’s why using a tool to verify email addresses can be helpful. This way, you can be sure that you're emailing the right person and that your time and energy are not being wasted. 

26. Fight the Spam Dragon  

Spam emails are more than just annoying inbox clutter; they can be a gateway to security breaches and malware. To stop getting spammed and protect yourself, you’ll be super cautious about what you click on. Never open suspicious links or attachments, and report spam emails to your provider as soon as you see them. Don’t forget to update your spam filter settings regularly. With these steps, you’ll keep your inbox organized and shield yourself from potential security threats. 

27. Use Other Communication Channels  

For quick updates or discussions that don’t require a formal email trail, use alternative communication channels. Instant messaging platforms or project management tools can be great options for brief exchanges. This will help minimize email clutter and keep your inbox focused on essential correspondence.

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