Learn how to get rid of the e-mails in your inbox!
These steps are based on Outlook but they can also be done with other e-mail programs.
- Create five folders: Do, Defer, Delegate, Document and Delete*
- Group related e-mails by sorting them by subject
- Review each e-mail and decide
- If an action is needed today, move it to the Do folder
- If no immediate action is needed, move it to Defer (right click on the message, point to Follow Up and then click on Add Reminder)
- If someone else should do it, Delegate it and add a reminder
- If the e-mail contains useful information, move it to the Document folder
- If you cannot decide, move it to Delete
Prioritize the Do folder daily. Revisit the rest weekly.
*Dr. Estrella’s “Deadly D Folders”
Connect with Dr. John A. Estrella via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
I use only Inbox, Sent Items and Trash. Anything which requires any action from me (including controlling whether someone else did their job) waits in Inbox. Everything else goes to Trash which I never empty. Sent Items are there because of how Outlook works and because I’m too lazy to move it all to Trash.
By the way: you should call it Deadly D Directories, not Folders :)
[...] Home « Eight Easy Steps to Eliminate E-mails [...]
Pawel,
I like that … Deadly D Directories!
John