07/03/2024
1. Check emails in your schedule
Schedule time in your day to check your emails, times when you can sit, read, and respond to messages. Perhaps this is at the beginning of your workday, before lunch, after lunch, and at the end of the workday. Block off four 20-30 minute periods in your schedule.
* Remember emails also include other social channels like Facebook notifications, text messages, and social media comments.
2. File emails right away
To keep your email inbox orderly, file emails as soon as you’ve replied or whatever needs to be done. Make sure that everything has a folder or subfolder, a place to go once a reply is no longer needed or the task has been completed. Clearing emails out of your inbox and filing them away will give you a clear sense of which emails still need your attention as soon as you open your email.
* Remember, “Every email is a decision waiting to be made”
3. Unsubscribe to not important emails
Think about how many emails you receive a day that you delete without even reading. This includes Business newsletters, retail stores and online shopping recommendations or offers that are no longer relevant to you, etc.
When you see several new emails pop up in your inbox every time you check, you’ll probably feel the need to check more often. Fewer emails coming in means less temptation to check your email all throughout the day.
Take inventory of the emails that pop up in your inbox and evaluate if they’re still relevant, if they’re still helpful, if they still serve you in some way. If not, unsubscribe.
4. Keep your to-dos on a task list, not in your inbox.
I know it’s a helpful strategy for some, but for me, sending myself an email with a list of to-dos (or worse, an email for every task I think of as I think of it) is just another excuse to check my email the next day.
Instead, jot down your to-dos on a notepad. This will keep you from checking your email just to see what’s next on your to-do list.
5. Set hours for your business
It’s important to set time to check your emails instead of doing it randomly. This way, you set expectations for your clients that they expect to hear from you during regular working hours so as not to overwhelm yourself.
6. Turn off notifications.
If you’re not sitting down to read and reply to email messages, then you don’t need to know every time a new email lands in your inbox, right? Save yourself the distraction and potential interruption by disabling all lock-screen notifications and alerts on your phone or tablet.
Do the same thing on your computer—no banners, sound alerts, or visual notifications of new mail.
7. Close the application when you’re not actively using it.
If it’s open in your web browser, it’s an easy click away at any point in the day. Here’s a pro tip: Don’t leave your email inbox open outside of your designated email periods.
If you’re still tempted to open your email and check throughout the day, try a tool like
Do Not Disturb for Gmail. It’s a Chrome extension that will only pull new emails when you manually fetch them or at certain (scheduled) times of the day.