Clean Out Your Inbox - Day 1

Welcome to Day 1 of the 6th International Clean Out Your Inbox Week.

Have you found that email overload has become a major threat to your productivity, mental well-being and worklife balance?  Email volumes are continuing to increase, with no relief in sight. And while you’re also using social media, text messages and other collaborative tools, they are not replacing email, they’re just adding more messages for you to handle!

But today can be the first day you take steps to get control of your inbox and keep it that way! It won’t be easy and you’ll find it’s more of a process than a ‘one-off’ event. But reclaiming your life from the inbox will significantly boost your energy levels and increase your personal effectiveness (both at work and home).

Join us this week as we step through getting control of the inbox. Our aim is that you’ll be able to get your inbox empty by the end of this week and, if you send us screenshot of your empty inbox this Friday afternoon, you’ll earn a prize!

So, where do we start?

Let’s start by checking where you’re at right now, by answering these 3 questions;

  1. How many emails are sitting in your inbox now (read and unread)? In Outlook, click on your inbox and then check the number in the bottom left hand corner*.
  2. How many are unread? (see example at right)
  3. Allowing an average of 30 seconds to pricess each e-mail, how much time does this represent?

* the average number from our surveys for past 7 years is a staggering 977 emails per person. How do you compare?)

Tomorrow, we’ll discuss when you should and should NOT be working on your email. 

All the best!

 Steuart Snooks

Steuart