Feeling a little overwhelmed by your inbox lately? Here are a few tips that might help the fear lessen!
First – and this might sound really obvious! – have a separate email address for your blog correspondence. Keeping things separate from your personal email makes it easier to find emails again in the future, but it also means that you can switch off from the blog easier when you take a holiday. We recommend using a GMail account for your blog emails as it allows you to set up filters to makes organising emails so much easier. Keeping your emails organised also helps you to deal with emails quicker – ever missed out on an opportunity because the email got lost in your inbox?
If you use GMail, it’s so simple to set up filters so emails like comment notifications or new Twitter follower emails are labeled or marked as read so they can be quickly archived. (Use that archive button! It keeps your inbox clear from things that don’t need a toning, and makes it easier to find what you need!)
Use your unproductive time to keep on top of your inbox. If you use public transport, put down that copy of the Metro and use the half hour to tackle your inbox. Even if you only deal with the easier emails in that time, it will make the rest of your inbox not seem so bad.
One of the apps we mentioned in our five favourite iPhone apps post was Mailbox. Restricted to Gmail and Google Apps users, this has changed how we deal with emails for the blog. The delay feature is possibly the best tool ever (not even exaggerating!) for emails – if you need to write a longer or more detailed response to an email than being on the bus allows, delay it to when you know you’ll be at home and can give it the love it deserves, and it will pop back into your inbox at the chosen time.
How do you beat your inbox?
