7 Tips to Help You Get You Out of Your Inbox

Studies show that corporate workers spend about a third of their time checking email.

You know what they aren’t doing when they are checking email? Their work.

It ends up being one long day of email procrastination.

Are you spending too much time checking your email rather than getting your work done?

Get Out of Your Inbox and Get to Work

I’ve said many times, “Email is not your job.”

And unless you are a customer service rep, you need to get our of your inbox and get to work.

“Get out of your inbox and get to work!”

Tweet This

Stop checking your email and start checking your todo list. In other words, get out of your email and get to work!

Rather than checking your inbox for the 57th time today, check your to-do list and determine what you should be doing.

Your email is distractions and other people’s priorities. Your to-do list is your list of prioritized tasks.

Here are 7 Tips to Help You Get Out of Your Inbox:

1. Limit the Time you Check Your Email – Instead of checking your email endlessly, limit the number of times you check your inbox. I recommend beginning and end of the day. If you must, check it again midday.
2. Get Things Out of Your Email and Onto Your To-Do List – One reason that people constantly go into their inbox is because they leave tasks there. Your inbox should not be your to-do list. If an email requires action beyond a response, then add that task to your to-do list where it belongs.
3. Don’t Read Email, Act on It – When you do check your email, don’t read it and then leave it in your inbox. Rather, when you do open an email make a conscious choice to act on it. File, respond, or delete. Otherwise, you are just compounding the mess in your inbox for later.
4. Close Your Email Program – Yes, you can close that email app. On your desktop, you can close the program and even turn off. Many people forget that you can actually work on your computer and CLOSE the email app. Exit Outlook or Gmail or whatever you are using.
5. Keep it Brief – Emails shouldn’t be long. Don’t waste your time writing long messages. Keep your emails short and to the point. As well, ensure your “ask” is in the first line.
6. Turn Off the Notifications – You don’t need a “ding” or “pop-up” every time you receive an email. This only interrupts your day and encourages you to stop your work to check your inbox.
7. Don’t Check Email on Your Mobile Device – This one scares many people. Yet, do you really need email on your phone? Does your work require it? If you are using your phone for communication, utilize more immediate forms of communication such as Slack, iMessage, and more. Leave email for when you get back to your desktop.

Check Your List Instead of Your Inbox

Most people spend too much time in their inbox.

In fact, many jobs have deteriorated to the point that the employees sit around surfing the net while waiting for things to land in their inbox.

If you want to get your work done, stop checking your email and start checking your todo list.

Question: How do you stay out of your inbox and get your work done? You can leave a comment by clicking here.