Do you dream of inbox zero? Or are you drowning in 1,000+ emails. We are inundated with hundreds and thousands of emails every single day. Inbox zero can seem like this unattainable holy grail. But guess what?! You can actually do it and I’m going to share with you how.
ActiveInbox
My secret is a tool called ActiveInbox. If you’re looking for an effortless way to organize everything that’s coming in for your business and professional life without missing all the tasks you need to check off, this is going to be a life-changer for you.
ActiveInbox lets me add due dates to my schedule from my emails. When I get an email from one of my clients and they need something done, I can put a due date on it, add it to the project folder, and create a sub-list of to-do’s that I can look back to later all with smart tabs at the top of the email. You know those times when you get a task you need to do an email and you’re searching for it again and again, reading it over to make sure you’ve done all you need to do, you don’t have to spend all that time with the help of ActiveInbox.
ActiveInbox makes it easy to see all the tasks you need to complete today, tomorrow, and in the future from your inbox. This is especially convenient if you’re someone who gets a lot of last-minute email requests. This tool makes it so much easier to find emails with the information I need to complete a project and meet the deadline.
Filters and Labels
Additional organization like filters and labels for gmail can save you a lot of time.
For example, every once in awhile I still do TV commercials for a local car dealer. To make sure I get their emails, I told gmail to assign their email address a label with their name so when I get emails from them, there’s a big red label with a note of what the email is for right next to the subject line. That way, I know this is one email to take care of right now.
If you get a lot of e-newsletters from various stores, this is a nice way to make sure important people like clients and employees stand out in your inbox. You want to be able to catch what’s most time sensitive right away instead of shuffling through advertisements.
Having labels assigned to clients or projects is huge. Once you’re done with them, you can click archive and they’ll stay in your client’s folder. This way they’re sorted without being in your inbox. The process of archiving and saving your emails is simplified when you have folders and labels.
With one afternoon of organization, you can reach inbox zero. Use the many tools that gmail offers to get back on track. There’s no better time than today to get your life in order.
Now is the time to self-reflect. Are you near inbox zero? Do you take advantage of labels and filters in gmail? Think about what the state of your inbox is today and make a commitment to change it. Imagine how much closer you’ll be to finding balance when you aren’t spending 20 minutes in gmail every time you open your email.
