ProdPod, a Productivity Podcast
Business
An overflowing inbox is something that we have all probably experienced at some point in our personal and professional lives. Unexpected life circumstances happen and as well we sometimes get lax in our discipline to manage our email traffic on a regular basis. In this episode I give a simple strategy for managing this email overload and some email services that are handy to help manage your email from getting to that point in the first place.
Services mentioned in this episode:
The first step is to shut off the email spigot. Create a strategy for sustainably processing your inbox from today forward. Then look at your backlog and attempt to establish a breadcrumb method for dealing with the back email messages. For example, a friend and colleague of mine takes the oldest days worth of email and the last two days' email to process. Doing this every workday along with keeping up with the inbound email today is manageable and in just a few days or weeks's time, you're back to Inbox Zero.
To help with shutting off the email spigot, there's an email service called Unroll.me. It helps you unsubscribe from all those email newsletters you think you should be receiving but they're really just distractions.
Another service is called Sanebox. It automatically filters messages that you don't need to deal with right now so that you can bring those into view when you actually want to address them. I really enjoy being able to train Sanebox and seeing the statistics of how many hours it saves of my time.
Also a favorite service of mine is Boomerang Gmail. It enables you to send email out of view then come back to you at a predetermined date and time. Also Boomerang Gmail is able to schedule an outbound email and has several other really great features so check this one out, for sure.
And finally there's a new service called Gmail Valet. What I understand about the service is that there are real humans who have access to your inbox. And, as new email arrives they review your email to see whether or not it's actionable. If it is, they add it to a task list for you and otherwise move nonactionable items according to your specifications. It's currently free to use in beta!
So there you have it, a strategy for dealing with email overload and some services that can possibly help you from it getting overwhelming in the first place.
ProdPod: Episode 118 — Pondering Minimalism vis-à-vis Personal Productivity
ProdPod: Episode 117 — Getting More Resilient (Resilience and Productivity)
ProdPod: Episode 116 — Resilience and Productivity
ProdPod: Episode 115 -- Thinking INSIDE the Box! (Part 2)
ProdPod: Episode 114 -- Thinking INSIDE the Box! (Part 1)
ProdPod: Episode 113 -- Limiting Resources for Greater Productivity
ProdPod: Episode 112 -- Overcoming Burnout: Rest and Rejuvenation for Sustainable Productivity
ProdPod: Episode 111 -- Overcoming Procrastination
ProdPod: Episode 110 -- Overcoming Indecision
ProdPod: Episode 109 -- Overcoming Distractions
ProdPod: Episode 108 -- Overcoming Overwhelm
ProdPod: Episode 107 -- Managing People for Productivity
ProdPod: Episode 106 -- End of Workday Routine
ProdPod: Episode 105 -- The Power of Daily Routines: Morning, Midday and Evening Productivity Routines
ProdPod: Episode 104 -- The Myth of the Left and Right Brain
ProdPod: Episode 103 -- Managing Up for a More Productive Organizational Culture, Part 2
ProdPod: Episode 102 -- Managing Up for a More Productive Organizational Culture, Part 1
ProdPod: Episode 101 -- Software Review: Mind42 - Free Web-Based Mind Map Productivity Software
ProdPod: Episode 100 -- Mapping Your Productivity Using Mind Maps
ProdPod: Episode 99 -- Be the Superhero of Your Own Life
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The emPOWERed Half Hour
The Commercial Edge: Unleash the Power of People
Aligned Money Show
Gorse Culture PODcast : The H.R. Detective Agency!
HCI Leadership Revolution
The Ramsey Show
Planet Money