Is Your Inbox Wasting Your Time?

Is your email inbox full? How much time is wasted sifting through emails looking for any important business messages? Well you are not alone. When my inbox reached 5000 unread messages, I said, “enough’s enough!”. Here’s 5 quick tips to help maximize your time spent dealing with emails.

Tip #1: Set a timer for 10-15 minutes to spend on your emails in the morning. I like to start with the most important ones…my clients, prospective clients and partners. Then, if there is time left, I will read a few newsletters from my mentors.

Tip #2: Unsubscribe to at least 5-10 emails a day until you get down to the ones that really add value to you and your business. This was really helpful in clearing my inbox. Let’s face it, we sign up for something interesting at the time but if it isn’t helping you directly in your business or interest of choice, it is clogging up your inbox.

Tip #3: If you are getting a lot of junkmail. You can use the free tool called Boxbe that only allows emails with permission into your email box. It only takes a few minutes to set up and you can customize it. You can find this tool at www.boxbe.com.

Tip #4: Here’s a tough one…Set 3-5 times a day to actually check your inbox. I know, this one is hard but you will be surprised how much more time you have to work on your projects. Some great times to check is first thing in the morning, after lunch or during lunch and then at the close of the day. Do solopreneurs really have a close of the day? I hope so, but it wasn’t the case for me when I first started my business…I straightened that out though. I have 3 kids and finish my day at 4:30pm but usually I like to check again in the evening…when the kids are asleep.

Tip #5: Create files in your email system. I use Microsoft Outlook and have files for each subject that is important to me. Such as the name of my programs, business finances, marketing, coaching, consulting, personal, etc. Then, I file emails immediately after I responded or read them.

Please share your comments here. Do you have any more tips to add to this list? What works well for you?