My Email Strategy
Soo, I've been without internet for a few days, and I've been trying not to eat into my phone data, so I haven't been checking my email, which is normally something I do a few times (at least) a day.
So right now, I'm at the library trying to get some of my proofreading that I'm behind on finished, and I decided to check/clean out my email inbox. I click over to Gmail, and as I'm waiting for my inbox to load, I think to myself, "I'm going to have like 400 emails...." *insert sad face here because I know I'm going to be deleting over half of whatever is there*
The inbox loads, and wouldn't you know it - 163. In 3 days, I have accumulated 163 emails. Ho-ly crap.
So, I'm going to clean that out in a minute, but first I thought I would write a bit on how I normally keep my email organized.
First: Delete or Keep
Check it often. I usually get email notifications on my phone, and if I'm not at work or otherwise engaged, I go straight to the inbox and determine if I need to delete it (Bath & Body Works, Yankee Candle, Victoria's Secret, Horse.com, etc. are prime examples of companies that send craploads of emails each day, and while there are some spammers that I don't care for and will soon unsubscribe from, these are all companies that - when I have the money again - I will eventually use the coupons and deals that they send me.) or keep it.
Second: Folders
If I don't delete it right then and there, I will either read it then if I have the time and discard it when I'm done, or option B, place it in my "Read Later" folder.
If it's a receipt that I will potentially need to glance at later, I will place it in a "Receipts" folder. The "Receipts" folder is also where I put important emails that verify that I bought software or something else that could accidentally be lost some way, just in case I would ever be able to replace something if my computer was destroyed.
I also have a folder labeled "Personal", where I put things that I have already read that I just want to save to look back on, even if it isn't for something uber-important. If it needs addressed soon, it gets a star and/or an arrow marking it as important, showing me that I need to do something with it soon or glance back at its information at some point.
Third: Manage
The part that I'm not always so good at, especially if I'm busy elsewhere in my life (like now, when I don't have internet, am working/learning a new job, packing, cleaning, and moving, all of which, together, are taking up all of my day at the moment), is keeping up with my system. Clearing out the inbox and organizing stuff into folders is my forte. Cleaning out said folders and keeping up on all that is in them so that they don't get overloaded and bogged down, defeating the purpose of having them in the first place - that's the part I'm a little lax on. I try to at least go through them and weed them out once every week or two. Sometimes a little longer than that. It depends.
Hope this system helps, and if not, you just got a little glance into part of my somewhat-OCD organizational skills.
So right now, I'm at the library trying to get some of my proofreading that I'm behind on finished, and I decided to check/clean out my email inbox. I click over to Gmail, and as I'm waiting for my inbox to load, I think to myself, "I'm going to have like 400 emails...." *insert sad face here because I know I'm going to be deleting over half of whatever is there*
The inbox loads, and wouldn't you know it - 163. In 3 days, I have accumulated 163 emails. Ho-ly crap.
So, I'm going to clean that out in a minute, but first I thought I would write a bit on how I normally keep my email organized.
First: Delete or Keep
Check it often. I usually get email notifications on my phone, and if I'm not at work or otherwise engaged, I go straight to the inbox and determine if I need to delete it (Bath & Body Works, Yankee Candle, Victoria's Secret, Horse.com, etc. are prime examples of companies that send craploads of emails each day, and while there are some spammers that I don't care for and will soon unsubscribe from, these are all companies that - when I have the money again - I will eventually use the coupons and deals that they send me.) or keep it.
Second: Folders
If I don't delete it right then and there, I will either read it then if I have the time and discard it when I'm done, or option B, place it in my "Read Later" folder.
If it's a receipt that I will potentially need to glance at later, I will place it in a "Receipts" folder. The "Receipts" folder is also where I put important emails that verify that I bought software or something else that could accidentally be lost some way, just in case I would ever be able to replace something if my computer was destroyed.
I also have a folder labeled "Personal", where I put things that I have already read that I just want to save to look back on, even if it isn't for something uber-important. If it needs addressed soon, it gets a star and/or an arrow marking it as important, showing me that I need to do something with it soon or glance back at its information at some point.
Third: Manage
The part that I'm not always so good at, especially if I'm busy elsewhere in my life (like now, when I don't have internet, am working/learning a new job, packing, cleaning, and moving, all of which, together, are taking up all of my day at the moment), is keeping up with my system. Clearing out the inbox and organizing stuff into folders is my forte. Cleaning out said folders and keeping up on all that is in them so that they don't get overloaded and bogged down, defeating the purpose of having them in the first place - that's the part I'm a little lax on. I try to at least go through them and weed them out once every week or two. Sometimes a little longer than that. It depends.
Hope this system helps, and if not, you just got a little glance into part of my somewhat-OCD organizational skills.
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