Since we’ll be seeing each other this week, I’ll give you a mid-week check up. :)

Andrew, you are getting to the heart of this method: allowing the important emails to rise above those that just appear urgent. By not treating every email as equally important, we’re able to focus on the the ones that really matter. And it is amazing how many things sort themselves out, or really just weren’t urgent after all.

Side note: I don’t generally recommend you leave customers hanging for a week to find their own solutions. It depends on your business, of course. If you’re a life coach teaching independence, then it may make a lot of sense!

The stuff that really truly requires me is so much less than I ever imagined and only by progressively “email dieting” would I ever have known this.

Thanks for a great post!

Donna, thanks for adding your tips! I’m glad email is working better for you now.

OK, my “Working” folder is set up (and bulging, but hey, progress!) and I’m starting to star the important work-related emails in that folder. It’s actually named “AWorking Folder” to force it to the top of the alphabetical stack, and I gave it a blue Label Color to make it even more prominent.

The IN box is now zero. My God, it looks good. Huzzah!

Mary Jo, I’m glad you’re able to filter off the “read later” emails. That’s a good first victory!

I can see how you feel about losing things, and how that would cost you time. I’ve found a couple of things work for me, that might help you, too.

Pretend your inbox is actually called “NEW ARRIVALS.” It’s only where you find the today’s news. I wish you could actually rename it that! I think it might help.

I use stars to replace the, “I’ll keep this in the inbox, where I’ll see it” feeling. I treat my starred folder like you’re treating your inbox now. When I’m looking for an important email, it must be in starred. You could even make a folder called “Inbox 2” where you can keep those things that “need to stay in the inbox.”

Because you work in such an email-intensive business, you’ll have different ways of organizing it. Start watching yourself. What do you look for? What emails are too important to lose, and how do you find them in the inbox now? Do you look by date, by person, by subject? Those are clues to how you can best re-organize them. They key is to have emails organized in a way that makes sense for your thinking. If you always think by person, then organize by person.

But start with making a “second” inbox, and consider your first inbox only New Arrivals. I think that may be your second email victory.

Any suggestions for those of us who’ve tried and failed at this?