Quiet some time ago, I had a great system for keeping my inbox uncluttered and avoid email overload. For every email that I received I had an auto responder which said:
PLEASE NOTE: I receive way too many emails a day! I respond to emails between 8 – 10 AM, all emails in my inbox which I didn’t reply to by 10 AM are DELETED. If you didn’t receive a reply to your email and you need one, email me again. This is all done in order to avoid email overload and keep my inbox clean.
While this approach is indeed aggressive, it actually worked for me. I was able to perform the work I was paid to do from 10 AM to 5 PM. I had no regrets and no feeling sorry about the email which got deleted. Those people who used to email me and not get a response, ended up thinking twice before they emailed me. Not only did I have an uncluttered inbox I actually reduced others email overload. You see the less emails you send out the less emails you will get. It’s like a karmic rule of sorts. I don’t know how to explain it, but it works.
Unfortunately, circumstances have changed and I am no longer able to adopt this approach. Instead I use MoveIT for my email overload and for keeping my inbox clean. MoveIT plugs into Outlook and helps you with your filing of emails. I now keep my inbox as my To-Do list. Everything that I’ve completed handling gets filed, on demand by MoveIT. After using MoveIT for only 3 months, I wonder how I have even managed with out it.
