Do you need to organize your inbox? Is your email spinning out of control? Do you have hundreds of emails in your inbox? I think for most people, email inboxes are running disasters! I’ve got three simple tips to help you get a grip on your email situation.

Organize Your Inbox

Build a system to organize your inbox!

How is your email set up. Does everything land in the inbox and stay there? Do you have folders for different topics? It’s important to have your emails sorted into categories such as client names or property addresses, marketing expenses, personal, to do email, the more specific categories the better. With specific categories older emails will be easy to find!

Set up daily email times!

Set up email time each day. Of course, if you are waiting for specific emails, by all means check your email, but otherwise let it be. Most Realtors set up time during the day to return or make phone calls, do the same with email. Set up ten minutes or however long you need once or twice a day and use that time to work through all the new mail in your inbox. This saves time as you can concentrate on just your email. Don’t flip back and forth to phone calls, social media, or other programs. Simply sit down and go through all the email in your inbox.

Clear your inbox every day!

One of the biggest challenges in trying to organize your inbox is the build up of email. At a certain point, you simply give up! If you have followed the first two tips, you are ready for this tip. Never leave an opened email in your inbox! Did you pay attention to that word never? Get in the habit of opening an email and deciding what to do with it. You have a few choices when you open an email:

1. Open the email and work through it immediately, and file it where it belongs.
2. If it is something that cannot be worked right away, put it in your “To Do” folder.
3. Delete emails you don’t really need. Think about it. Will you ever really need the particular email again? If not delete it.

When you are done with your block of email time, your inbox should be empty with all the emails properly organized. If you get on top of it once, it is an easy way to maintain a clean inbox!