Clean out your inbox webinar slideshow

Editor's Notes

• #6: The first strategy for eliminating email overload is to decrease frequency; decrease the frequency with which are checking not only our email but also all the other sources of information such as twitter, facebook, text messages etc
• #8: And the key to this will be learning to apply the proven 4D methodology to your email. This will allow you to handle each e-mail only once, reducing the enormous amount of multiple handling of messages.
• #11: Create a new In-box subfolder (call it Backlog) Select all messages in your In-box (highlight any message and then click CTRL+A) Drag and drop the highlighted messages to the new Backlog folder (ta-da - an instant empty in-box!) Now set up a recurring reminder in your Calendar to spend 15 minutes a day processing your Backlog folder. Schedule this time for 15 minutes before your departure time at the end of the day – this time of day will help you to be focused (and ruthless) in making a decision on each e-mail, as you will be wanting to get it done quickly so you can get away to go home. We’ll discuss how to process and empty your backlog folder when we talk about point number 4 which is how to keep your inbox empty – it’s the same 4D method of decision-making
• #29: Use this same decision-making criteria when clearing your backlog as used for making a 4D decision about new e-mails, as below; Ditch or delete Deal Delegate Decide (Where/When/Wait) I recommend you start with the most recent e-mails first, as these are the ones that are most likely to still have actions or replies you can make. What you’ll find is that, by the time you get to the older messages, the only decision you’ll need to make is whether to delete or store in an appropriately named folder (it’s probably too late for any action now!). As a result, you’ll zoom through the older messages very quickly and it won’t seem nearly as overwhelming a task as it had first appeared. Good luck!