When you have to deal with this wave of connectionless email, and still get your actual work done. We'll show you how to deal with too many emails easily. You'll see various tricks and tactics that will enable you to take charge of your inbox. Deadlines equate to checking email for 10 minutes every hour; concentrate only on what is important. Method 1: Turn off notification modes (2:11) Make certain that pop-up alerts are disabled. Navigate to Notifications & Actions, choose the Outlook area, and then choose the "Off" mode in the settings portion of the window. Ensure that offline mode is selected. If you want to receive emails again, click "work offline" once more, and your inbox will be updated. Select "work offline" in the Send / Receive area. Method 2: Create a work directory (4:00) If you categorize in the conventional way, it will only get longer and have minimal impact. So we utilize a folder structure that is more action-based, and I try to keep it simple with just a few folders: Another crucial tip is to refrain from reading emails again because doing so forces you to read them repeatedly if you keep them in your inbox. I do the following to prevent that: - I determine what to do with an email after reading it first. I will if it is something I can do right away. In order to move the email from the Inbox and into the Save folder so that I may study it later, I archive it in "Archive" to see whether it's something I might need to refer back to or if it needs keeping for some other reason. Instead of storing something I know I won't use again, I choose to remove it. Choose Empty Folder in the recycle bin to avoid taking up extra storage space. - I made an action folder for emails that I couldn't reply to immediately and put those emails there. Right-click in the Inbox, choose a new folder, enter a name for it, and then click OK. I employ Quick Steps. Move the folder, name, and path to the folder you created to send to the action folder by selecting Move from the Quick Steps menu when you right-click on the message. Choose Finish. You can either mark the Follow flag or give it to the appropriate individual. - To send an email that only you can read, select Schedule time. Email will be used to create an appointment. To make an appointment, simply drag the email to the Cleaner calendar icon. - You should make a few adjustments for Action Folder. When you click File, Options, and then Advanced, Outlook will start and stop, and you may choose Brown to choose the Folder to utilize (Action folder). Method 3: Free up your inbox (9:45) - I'll move messages like newsletters all the way to their respective folder. Choose a transferable email, then choose Rules, then Create rules. You will choose the keyword and the folder it needs to transfer to in the Rule window. Once you click OK, you're done. - In order to code CC messages, you can select a color. You click the View tab, pick Settings, Conditional Formatting, Add Rules, type the name of the CC color, and then click Font to select the font color, font style, and font size. Click OK to complete. You simply choose "on the CC line with other people" under "where I am" and you're done. I hope your work has a fantastic strategy for you. I appreciate your attention.
Let's talk about emails.
According to research done by McKinsey,
the average full-time worker in America
receives about 120 emails per day
and spends around 28% of their working day
reading and answering email.
That's a lot of time.
It's no wonder we're getting stressed out
going through this never-ending wave of emails
and still having to get our actual work done.
It's time to cover some tips and techniques
to get you get control of your inbox.
If you research this topic,
you're going to find different strategies
on how to deal with email.
For example, there is Inbox Zero.
It's a strategy by Merlin Mann,
where the goal is to always keep your inbox 100% empty.
Or on the other end of the spectrum,
there are people out there
that have thousands of emails in their inbox
and are perfectly happy.
They use flagging tools and search tools
to find what they need.
Now, these extremes don't work for me.
They both give me anxiety.
I've tried both versions.
If I spend my day making sure my inbox is 100% clean,
I don't get much actual work done because I get distracted.
And if I happen to miss a day or two,
I end up going to the other extreme
where I let everything pile up
and I lose track.
Because each email for me
is like a task that needs to be completed.
And when I have to scroll through a flooded inbox
with tons of tasks waiting for me,
I get stressed out.
I don't want to enter that box anymore.
What works for me and what I recommend
if you want to improve your productivity
and reduce your anxiety
is to use a system that applies ideas from both strategies.
I'll also show you some great features in Microsoft Outlook
that can help you majorly reduce
the time you spend on email.
Here's how.
Number one, develop an email routine.
Despite popular belief,
our brains aren't good at multitasking.
In fact, research has shown that multitasking
reduces productivity.
So stop constantly checking your inbox
because when you're in the middle of getting something done
it takes some time to get back on track
after checking your inbox.
These minutes add up over time
and it really gets frustrating
constantly having to restart a task several times.
I know it might not be possible for everyone
but for most jobs,
an immediate response to an email isn't required.
So I recommend dedicating, for example,
10 minutes every hour to your email.
Just concentrate on the most important ones
and when you're done, close down your inbox
and focus your attention on your other tasks.
Also make sure you turn off the Windows notifications
so you don't constantly get pop-ups
as soon as new email arrives.
To do that, just open the action center
in the bottom right corner
and then manage notifications up here.
This will take you to notifications and actions
and when you scroll down,
you'll see the different apps
for which notifications are turned on.
Definitely turn off Outlook
but also check out the other apps
to see if you really need to get pop-ups for any of them.
If you can't close down Outlook during your email free time
because you needed to get your other tasks done,
switch to offline mode.
To switch to offline, go to send receive
and click on work offline.
In the status bar down here,
you can also see that you're currently offline.
When it's time to check emails again,
just click work offline again and your inbox will update.
Number two, create a folder system that works for you.
Let's talk about filing and archiving emails.
In the past, I created an elaborate
multi-level folder structure
for different subjects to archive emails
that I wanted to keep.
It worked fine in the beginning
but I kept adding topics
and the list just got longer and longer.
I'd spend time deciding which folder I should move an email.
The later, when I was looking for something,
often I wasn't sure anymore where I put it
and I ended up wasting time searching for it.
Kind of defeated the purpose.
So now I use a more action-based folder structure
and I try to keep it to a simple system
with only a few folders.
I'll show you how you can set that up in a bit.
The other important rule is to avoid rereading emails.
That's another reason why I don't like an overflowing inbox
because if you keep everything in your inbox,
you will end up rereading emails multiple times.
Here's what I do to avoid that.
The first time I read an email, I decide what to do with it.
If it's something I can get done right away, I do it.
For example, if accounting needs a receipt,
I forgot to submit, I send it right away.
If I get a message like this, I do it right away.
So basically anything I can do in a couple of minutes,
I will do to get the task done.
When I'm done and I answered the email,
I decide if it's something I may need to refer back to
at some point in the future,
or maybe it's something I need to keep
for legal or tax reasons.
If so, I will archive the email
by just clicking on archive up here.
This will move the email out of my inbox
to the archive folder.
Later, if I need to go back, I can use search to find it.
But if it's something I definitely don't need anymore,
I just delete it.
So instead of archive up here, I click on delete.
This will move the email out of my inbox
to the deleted items.
I regularly empty this folder
so it doesn't take up unnecessary storage space.
So that's what I do with an email
that I know is quick to complete.
Answer it and then either archive or delete.
Obviously the same applies for emails
where no action is required.
I decide if I want to archive the message
or move to the trash right away.
Now, what can you do when you come across a message
that you can't answer right away?
Maybe it requires creating a report
or checking with someone else
or anything that takes up more than a couple of minutes.
This is where my action folder comes in.
If after reading the email,
I realize that I need to spend more time for it,
I move it to a folder I created.
To create a folder, right click on your mailbox
and select new folder.
Give it a name and hit enter.
This also works on existing folders
in case you want to create a subfolder.
In my case, I have a folder called action required
that's right below my inbox.
You can also drag and drop
to get your folders in the order you want.
So when I come across an email,
I can neither delete nor answer right away.
I use quick steps to move the message to the action folder.
To set up a quick step, just right click on the message,
select quick steps, then new quick step
and then move to folder.
Give it a name and under actions,
select the folder you want the message to move
in the dropdown.
Click on finish.
Now that you created the quick step
with the email highlighted,
just click on the quick step on the home tab.
This will move it out of the inbox.
You can also add a shortcut to your quick step.
Go to quick step, manage quick step, then edit.
Choose a shortcut key combination and save.
Then use the shortcut to allocate your message.
But that's not where it ends
because otherwise you just created another folder
you need to keep track of.
So here are your options.
You can delegate the task to someone.
Here you can just forward the email to the person.
To stay on top of this email, to make sure it gets done,
you can flag it using Outlooks follow-up feature.
If you can't delegate the task because only you can do it,
you should create a to-do out of it.
What I do is schedule time in my calendar to get it done.
Because if I don't schedule, it's not going to happen.
To schedule time, create an appointment
directly from the message
by just dragging the message down to the calendar icon.
This will open the appointment window.
You can use the scheduling assistant to schedule a slot
to work on this email.
This way, my task has a good chance of getting done.
I'm going to add a final tweak to this.
Let's change the default startup folder in Outlook
to the action folder.
So every time Outlook opens,
the first thing you're going to see
are things that you need to get done.
This is great for me
because I get easily distracted by other emails
and I might forget to check my action folder.
To do that, go to file, options.
Under advanced, you'll see Outlook start and exit.
And over here, you can select the folder Outlook uses
as the start folder.
Just click on browse and select the action folder.
Number three, declutter your inbox.
Obviously, the easiest way to have a clean inbox
is to have fewer messages to work through.
So unsubscribe from anything you don't want to receive.
If you can't get someone to stop bombarding you with email,
block the sender and send them to the junk folder.
Turn off email notifications
from outside apps and social media.
Basically do everything you can
to reduce the wave of incoming emails.
I also highly recommend using rules in Outlook.
For example, I'm subscribed to several newsletters
that I'm interested in,
but I don't want these messages to pile up in my inbox.
In this case, you can create a separate folder
for these messages
and use a rule to automatically move them
to this folder as soon as they arrive.
That's very simple.
Click on one of the newsletter emails that you received,
then select rules from the home tab and create rule.
Now we need to identify some trigger for the rule.
This can either be the specific sender
or certain keywords in the subject line.
In my case, I'm going to go with the sender.
Then select the folder I want to move it to, and that's it.
You can get really creative and complex with rules.
Just click on advanced options to see what I mean.
In my case, I just need a simple rule,
so I'll click on finish.
One last tip.
This works especially well in a corporate environment
where people send out a lot of emails
with recipients in CC to keep them informed.
Now, usually such emails don't require action,
so you could use a rule to move them to a separate folder
so you can read them later or not.
Another way is to color code them so without opening,
you already know that these messages
aren't addressed to you directly.
To set up such a conditional formatting in Outlook,
go to the view tab, select view settings,
and then conditional formatting.
Click on add to set up a new rule.
Assign a name, click on the font button.
Here you can change the font, style, size, and color.
I'll just go with maroon here and click on okay.
Now we need to add a condition.
You can also get really complex,
but all I want is to apply to messages where I'm copied on.
So I'll check the box for where I am,
and from the dropdown,
I select on the CC line with other people.
That's it.
Click on okay and okay again.
Let's quickly test this.
I'll send an email to myself in the CC.
And now when the message arrives,
I see right away that I'm only copied on this email.
So there you have it.
To summarize, develop an email routine
and stop constantly checking your inbox.
Create a folder system that works for you
and apply a single touch rule to avoid rereading emails.
And declutter your inbox by applying rules
and turning off email notifications.
I hope these tips will be helpful
to get control of your inbox and improve your productivity.
If you liked what you saw and what you learned,
please give the video a thumbs up
and consider subscribing if you haven't already done so.
Thank you for watching and I'll see you in the next video.
