Provide some tips for maintaining control of your e-mail in-box

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Your in-box can easily become unwieldy, and this can exponentially increase the amount of
time you spend on e-mail as the message list continually grows in size. Organization is
necessary to maintain a clean in-box and to save time and energy when dealing with incoming
e-mail. Develop a game plan or a course of action to handle and maintain your in-box.
Creating a system for organization and constantly evaluating and tweaking that system will
lead to a more efficient e-mail experience and overall better productivity.
Some tips for maintaining control of your in-box are:
a) Schedule a time for uninterrupted e-mail processing.
b) Read the e-mail twice at most; either answer it right away or answer it during your
designated e-mail time. Do not keep rereading the same message.
c) If you do not have time to answer e-mails, then don't check your e-mail.
d) Many organization methods exist, including incorporating a to-do list. Research these
methods further to find the best one for you. Some mail clients, such as Gmail, allow you to
transfer an e-mail from the in-box and turn it into a to-do item or note.
d) Explore virtual personal assistants if your job requires that level of support.
e) E-mail clients such as Outlook can help with filtering, grouping, organizing, and searching.
Exploring your e-mail tools and their features can be useful when thinking about your
organization methods.