The Dispatch

Best Practices

7 Steps to Take Back Your Inbox

Do you find that you are spending far too much time sorting through your inbox and not enough time on serving your clients?

Here are seven steps for taking back your inbox:

1. Turn off all email notifications and check your email according to your priorities and schedule. On your phone, turn off email notifications and sounds as well as remove the unread email counter on the icon (also known as a “badge”). If you use Outlook on your computer, go to File, Options, Mail and uncheck the four(!) different ways that Outlook can notify you when new messages arrive.
2. Create filters and rules to split your inbox into logical groups. Most email programs will let you create filters (or rules) to auto-sort incoming emails. A great way to use filters is to send all newsletters to a “Newsletter” folder so that you can read them in a single sitting.
3. Block time on your calendar to process your email. You can take two different approaches when viewing your inbox. The first approach is a quick scan to delete irrelevant emails and quickly respond to important emails. The second approach is to read though all the remaining emails to decide what you need to do and when you need to do it.
4. Unsubscribe to any emails that are not relevant, send the same information as other newsletters, or arrive too frequently. For example, do you need a “Breaking News” email and a “Daily News” email from the same website? Not sure what to unsubscribe from? Try sorting your Trash folder by sender and you’ll quickly see how often you receive messages from various senders.
5. Create and use folders to store emails related to a specific project or client. An empty or nearly empty inbox will give you a sense of accomplishment and clarity. With folders, you can quickly find messages without trying to figure out the right search terms.
6. Learn keyboard shortcuts. Here are the keyboard shortcuts for Outlook and the keyboard shortcuts for Gmail.
7. Develop the habit of dealing with each email only once – respond to it immediately; pick a time to respond to it later; file it away; or delete it.

It takes some discipline, but follow these simple steps, and you’ll soon see your inbox shrink, and your productivity grow.

Brought to you by Pathfinder Coaching & Consulting, https://pathfinderadvisor.com/.

The representations and opinions herein are the opinions and view of Pathfinder Coaching & Consulting and are not the opinions or views of EQIS. The information is believed to be reliable but is neither guaranteed by EQIS nor any of its affiliates. EQIS and Pathfinder Coaching & Consulting are not affiliated. EQIS is not responsible for the content or availability of the third-party websites made available. EQIS is not an agent for the third-party websites nor do we endorse, approve or guarantee their products, services or representations. The websites are provided for convenience only and are not under the control of EQIS. The security and privacy policies of the third-party websites may be different from EQIS’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Contact the external websites for answers to questions regarding the content.

Read More Blogs

In This Issue:

• State of the Markets   |   Index Membership Changing
• Making it Easier to Do Business   |   Model Builder
• Manager Spotlight   |   Toews Asset Management
• Your EQIS Team   |   Meet Brett Rainey
• Best Practices   |   7 Steps to Take Back Your Inbox

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