A Year of De-cluttering in February continues

Don't let your email control you!

You have thousands of messages in your email inbox don't you?  It's our goal this week to take care of that.

To complete this task make a commitment to actually do it.  Plan on it taking up some of your time (which you will soon gain back).  Schedule this time in!  You also need to plan to start new email habits.

Purge Part One:
Open up your main email inbox.  Tell your inbox to show you the oldest emails first.  Gasp audibly and shake your head.  Remind yourself of your new goal to be organized with your email and why this is important to you.

The easiest way to de-clutter your email is to delete these old emails.  If you haven't needed them the past few years, you probably don't need them period.  Do a google search for your email program on how to delete years worth of old emails.  If you really think you need to glance at last year's old emails then perform a massive delete up to 2011.

Purge Part Two:
Again, tell your inbox to show you the oldest emails first.  Notice emails from lists you subscribe to like Hobby Lobby, Shop It To me, MeetUp Reminder etc.  If you seldom open items from these subscriptions but don't have time to remove yourself right now, begin making a list of  those you need to unsubscribe.  Say Hobby Lobby is something you see in your inbox and it's something you want to continue getting, then do a massive Hobby Lobby purge.   You can do it by searching or by using a filter.  There goes 150 emails into your trashcan!  Woohoo!  Continue this process over and over.  It will take a while.

You will begin to notice emails you never ever open and emails you seldom open.  It's time to take control of your email isn't it?

Source: happyplace.com via A on Pinterest

Create A System:
Set up folders within your email system.  Your folders might be Banking, Receipts for orders, Photos, Stupid Jokes, etc.  If you can learn how to set up your filters to train emails to automatically enter these folders, especially the folders you seldom need to look at, DO IT!  It is absolutely worth the set-up time!

Start new habits:
Every time you open your inbox follow the well-known F.A.T. plan -File, Act, Toss.  Got an email for something you just purchased online?  Move it to your "Receipts for purchases" folder.  Delete what you don't have time to look at or don't care about immediately.  If you need to respond to an email and can do so in 2 minutes or less, do it now.  If the response requires some time then tag it.  Schedule time in your calendar to take care of these tagged items because they are important and you don't want to forget them.

Continue to unsubscribe from lists you simply don't have time for.

Finally, limit the amount of time you check your email to once every few hours at most.  If something is urgent there are other ways for people to contact you.

Once last thing, limit the amount of notifications you are getting from Social Media.  Taking 5 minutes to set up these perimeters will save you hours.