When I managed projects at a tech startup, one of the Founders told me that he regularly deleted his entire inbox. He said if it was truly important that he respond, he would receive a follow up email!
This is a pretty extreme way of managing your inbox, but I have learned to adapt the basic principle of it to manage my own inbox overwhelm.
When my unreads get too big, I decide to:
ย 1) Delete all the unwatched webinar replays (if I really wanted to watch them, I already would have!). Trust that the right information will return to you at the right time.
ย 2) Delete the unread newsletters and take a moment to unsubscribe (you can still follow people on social media - do you really need them in your inbox too?)
ย 3) Delete the 'buy me now' emails. If you feel a contraction or cringe about someone's aggressive marketing tactics, UNSUBSCRIBE. This can be really hard, especially if they are your friend. But realize that if you don't open their emails anyway, you are actually hurting their mailing list metrics and delivery rates.
My goal is to always get to inbox zero (having no unread emails in my inbox). The only ones I keep unread are the ones that need an action - everything else gets archived or deleted.
I once helped someone with over 3000 unread emails clean up their inbox! Your inbox can be a calm and easeful place where you feel in control.
If you want a working session to help you through this or any other business system challenge, message me!
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