Email - Detox your Inbox

By : Jenny Dombroski

Becoming an email ninja is definitely a useful survival skill in business... OK in life. A hot mess of an inbox can make you feel overwhelmed and out of control. A well-kept inbox can mean great things for your business because it will increase your response time to current clients as well as prospective ones. This can be done without much hair-pulling and once you've got the system down you'll wonder why you waited so long to start.

Goal: Inbox (0).
Set the goal to empty your inbox every day. Yes I said empty it! The idea here is that you don't necessarily have to respond to every message, you just have to process it. I hear your gasp of horror, but rest assured I will explain how that's done in just a few simple steps:

1. Obliterate Spam. Check your spam filter settings and make sure you're actually using one. If you're an Outlook user you can also download a free, trainable spam filter called SpamBayes. It analyzes key words and patterns to train itself for future emails. 
2. Unsubscribe. Every company who sends broadcast email messages must provide an option for you to unsubscribe. Rather than deleting those pesky emails, spend an extra minute and open the message scroll to the bottom and click the unsubscribe button.
3. Take Action. If the email requires action and it will take 2 minutes or less to do it, then DO IT! If you need to defer it for later, then just drag and drop the email into your task bar or calendar (Outlook) and then delete the original email. All of the info is now saved in the task or calendar item itself. If the email does not require any action then quickly decide to delete the item or file in a reference folder. Just create one folder for this rather than trying to be specific or future emails will become increasingly cumbersome to process. Use your search feature if you need to find emails in the reference folder. 
4.  Set up email rules. I swear this is so underutilized and can be a great time saver all by itself. Set up rules (Outlook) or filters (Gmail) to funnel newsletters, bill payment receipts or any other regular mail into folders. These are not usually things that require your immediate attention so have them go somewhere other than your inbox for review during down-time. 

A few other general email practice tips:

• Silence new email notifications. These are distractions that pull you away from important tasks at hand. 
• Set parameters for checking email. You should not be checking email the minute it arrives! For example, you could schedule email to be read in the morning, at lunch and at the end of your workday.
• Do NOT check email first thing in the morning. This can shift the productivity of your entire day. Do your most brain intensive tasks first. 

In no time, you will be looking forward to checking your email (at the designated times of course), comfortable in the knowledge that you have the systems in place to keep your email minimized, organized and optimized. 

Office Oxygen is not Jenny's first step into the world of business ownership. She also owns an online custom loungewear business called Evlove Intimates, that has been featured in Lucky Magazine, Daily Candy, Huffington Post and seen on NBC and WGN just to name a few. An entrepreneur herself, Jenny understands the tough issues, crazy demands and growing pains that business owners face. She knows firsthand that entrepreneurs are some of the most courageous and hardest working folks around who need supportive resources to help them stay at the top of their game.