We’ve all been there, flooded, buried and overwhelmed by an ungodly amount of emails.
For me and the core team here at the Eyes Wide Open Collective, this is a common daily occurrence. But being in the midst of a launch has only upped our inbox activity – see what we’re up to here.
So for the sake of our team and for your benefit, I’m going to share with you…
How to Get Through 100 Emails in 30 Minutes or Less {Share it on Twitter!}
If you’re experienced with the art of cleaning up and managing your inbox, this is easy. But for most people. 100+ emails in your inbox daily is INSANE.
Email is hugely important when you’re running an online business. I get it. It’s how you respond to clients, partners and a whole mess of other people who keep your business in business. But mustering up the brain power and tracking down the info for each response takes time and a whole lot of energy.
That’s time and energy not spent on doing the work you really love to do.
Like Nisha Moodley says, “Productivity isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing BETTER.”
So rather than going email by email, writing intimate, long responses and working tirelessly to get your inbox down to zero, here are
3 Simple Steps to Get Through 100 Emails:
- Set a Timer – This strategy I’m going to teach you only works to help you get through 100 emails in 30 minutes or less if you do it in 30 minutes or less. So before you open an email, decide that in 30 minutes you’re going to close your inbox and get to the juicy parts of your business. Once the timer is set you can get started.
- Rapid Fire – Quickly go through every email in your inbox… quickly. As you scan over each email, decide (quickly) if you can respond to it in under 2 minutes. If you can, respond. If you can’t, add it to one of two folders – Respond Today -or- Respond Tomorrow. And move on.
- Respond – Once you’ve gone through and quickly categorized your 100+ emails, now it’s time to respond to all of the emails in your Respond Today folder.
And here are some additional tips to keep in mind while you’re sorting through your inbox and response folders:
- Not every email needs a response.
- Keep responses short, sweet and to the point – people will love you for it, trust me.
- Don’t be scared to delete. If you don’t need it, don’t save it.
- Keep your inbox clean. If you can’t respond to it in under 2 minutes, add it to the Respond Today or Respond Tomorrow folder or delete it, you’ve got to put it somewhere. Create a Follow Up folder to keep emails you’re waiting for responses back on, create a Hold folder to keep important emails you’ll need to reference in the future or send it to someone else to handle.
Now It’s Your Turn!
Leave us a comment below to let us know how this strategy for managing your inbox worked for you. And we’d also love to hear your other tips for how to get through 100 emails.
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Leave us a comment on Facebook or Tweet us with your question and hashtag #AsktheCollective and you could see your answer in our next post!
The secret to moving forward is to do what you can to move forward.
