1. Perform an Initial Cleanup
When you employ any new inbox management plan, it’s important to start fresh with a clean slate. By performing an initial cleanup of your mailbox, you can then use the email productivity hacks and tips we’ll explain throughout this article.
📌 Unsubscribe from mailing lists
A good way to start the cleanup is by unsubscribing from newsletters, marketing messages, and promotional emails you no longer want to receive.
Most popular email applications provide an unsubscribe option to remove yourself from mailing lists. But the inbox management tool Clean Email makes quick work of the process by allowing you to unsubscribe from multiple mailing lists at once rather than one at a time.
✅ With Clean Email’s Unsubscriber, you can easily select many unwanted email subscriptions and remove yourself from all senders’ lists with little effort.
📌 Act on emails in bulk
Whether a dozen messages or hundreds of them, bulk actions make mailbox cleanup easy.
✅ And with Clean Email, you can do things like move, delete, or archive mass messages in just a few steps and on any device – Clean Email is available not only on the web, but also as an app for Mac, iOS, and Android.
Unlike applications like Gmail which require you to continue loading more emails in order to select and act on them, you can select multiple or even all messages with Clean Email and take care of them at one time.
2. Create Decluttering Habits
Getting yourself into a regular habit of decluttering your mailbox is an effective way to proactively relieve email overwhelm. These routines can also enhance your existing techniques for time management with emails.
📌 Mark spam regularly
If you’re overwhelmed by spam emails, be sure to take a few moments to mark those messages as junk. This teaches your email client to handle future messages the same way and send them to the spam folder.
Because new junk mail appears all the time, make sure that you frequently check for and mark spam.
📌 Block or Allow new senders
Along with spam comes emails from new senders. Some may be legitimate messages that you want while others might be from senders you don’t plan to continue communicating with at all.
✅ Clean Email provides a handy Screener feature to make this process simpler. Just head to the Screener section and allow or block each sender. This not only keeps your inbox clutter-free but lets you better control the messages you receive to prevent becoming overwhelmed.
3. Use an Email Triage System
Many people try out the email triage system when they believe the inbox zero methodology is their best option. But you can use the triage technique to keep your mailbox organized on a regular basis.
Using the triage system, you decide how to handle a message when it arrives. You then act on the message, delegate it to someone else, delay it until later, or delete it.
💡 Tip: You can also mark an email as urgent to make sure you don’t bypass or forget about it.
Another way to triage incoming messages is with Clean Email’s Cleaning Suggestions. You automatically get recommendations for the best ways to handle the messages.
✅ With Cleaning Suggestions, you can manage messages with previously performed actions you used for similar emails.
4. Set Up Automations
One terrific way to stay on top of emails before they take over is with automations. By taking a few minutes to set up an automated process, you can save time and stop checking email so frequently. Just let your email application handle the messages!
Providers like Outlook and Gmail offer automations like rules and filters. Because these tools can be limited or unavailable if you manage emails on your mobile device, check out Clean Email’s Auto Clean feature.
✅ With Auto Clean, you simply set up inbox rules to take care of messages as they arrive. You can automatically move, mark, label, archive, or delete emails, for an intuitive, long-term mailbox management solution on any device.
💡 Tip: If you’re interested in help from artificial intelligence as an additional option, check out various AI email automation tools you can use as well.
Wrap-Up
With these inbox management tips and strategies, you can stop the time wasted on emails before it becomes excessive. Email anxiety is real and can be triggered when you’re overwhelmed by emails. Be proactive and take control before your inbox gets to an unmanageable state.
