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Health & Fitness

End the Email Clutter!

Third in the Spirituality of Clutter series. Clutter is anything we don't need, use or love, including information and email. Read on to find out more about the spiritual side of email clutter.

Clutter is anything we don’t need, use or love, including information like email.  And there is a spiritual side of email clutter ….

  • Email represents opportunities or information we want for the future; or nagging lists of To-Do’s.
  • We need a system for sorting or storing information, and to take time for maintenance.

Delete old, diminish new!

  1. Sort your in-box in reverse chronological order, recent emails first.
  2. Move emails 3 months and older from your inbox to a folder called “Opened Email, 2011 and before” or something like that. 
  3. Spend 10 minutes daily deleting emails older than 3 years, then 2, then 1, etc.  I can’t recommend a target number, but when opening email becomes less stressful, you’re getting close!
  4. Don't keep emails containing information that is just a google search away.
  5. Unsubscribe from unwanted mailing lists, and opt for daily digest emails on your listservs.

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  1. Receiving catalogs and newsletters online cuts paper waste, but complicates email!  One client mentioned feeling “harassed” by emails, and I concur!
  2. Delete some immediately, like retailer emails unless you are actively shopping.  Or, go to the main website and bookmark it, then delete or unsubscribe. 
  3. Set up filters or folders for important emails.  A friend mentioned that Gmail can filter specific emails into a folder for review.  If you like your paper filing system, name your email folders similarly.  Or, name folders based on projects, topics, actions to take, etc.
  4. Emails into actions.  Today, I deleted unnecessary emails, added the actions required for the rest on my to-do list, and scheduled time this week to act.  This absolutely helps!  Once the action is complete, the email goes to its folder.  Gmail has a to-do list function, too, for turning your emails into action.

 Be a respectful sender. 

  1. Review emails and your response before sending.  Answer questions asked, or the email will continue.
  2. Take yourself and others off Copy, if possible, and don’t click Reply To All unless necessary.
  3. Limit addresses in the To: line.  Use BCC (blind copy) to remove addresses before the message, and to respect privacy.
  4. If you forward a message, DELETE everything but the content before sending.
  5. Just heard these items on a class I took recently with Callahan Solutions, Inc.:
    1. Start with your conclusion, Bottom Line On Top (BLOT statement), so your reader knows immediately if they need to continue reading.
    2. List your Action items at the top of email, too, so make them easy to see.
    3. Make long emails easier to read by adding white space, bullet points and outlines.
  6. Use NRR (No Response Required) in your subject line if you are sending purely for information.  If you receive an NRR email, fight the urge to send a “great” or “ok”.

Email is a great form of communication, and gets even better with a little time and effort!

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This is part of the March edition of Colleen CPO's Blog.

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