We are all disciplined, productive and positive people here, aren't we? Therefore, during the working winter, our inbox is empty just enough to be effective.
Well, what awaits us when we return from vacation? That's right — a mountain of emails and spam, which is depressing and somewhat spoils the aftertaste after a rest. However, even mountains are subject to man, if approached wisely.
- Today's emails need to be processed in the usual way. Everything «old» will wait for its time. Let fresh emails into your usual routine.
- Allocate several time-boxes to process old mail for each day until you are done. Count on a portion of 5 ± 2 letters. Why so little? The explanation is in the next paragraph.
- Start with the oldest email in the chain. This will allow you to read the entire chain without opening each of her letters. In GMail, grouping emails will do for you what you have to do manually in Outlook:
- Mark as processed all emails related to the chain that you have just read. In Outlook, you should find all Related messages for this.
And mark them in the usual way (Mark all as read, or uncheck).
- Do not forget about the main things of the day: usually mail that has been lying for some time is not such a thing. Don't pay too much attention to her.
- Do not try to delete without looking or, even worse in my opinion, leave all emails for normal processing. Item 1: today's and all subsequent emails agree with the rules, at least ours, and the old ones are in the timebox-ah like rubble.
- Repeat until completed.
We hope these tips will help you understand the piles of your Inbox.
