Are you done with feeling so overwhelmed with your out of control email inbox, and the stacks of cluttered papers and sticky notes all over your desk?

Do you end your day with more tasks on your to-do list but you worked yourself to the bone?

Have you ever wished you could start your day well prepared, clear-headed, energized, and excited to make it happen?

You know what? You CAN.

Here's the secret keys.

5 Keys to Overcome Productivity Overwhelm

By following the 5 key steps in our Productivity Mastery series, you WILL....

• Create a vision for your life that you will be so excited for it will make you want to jump out of bed in the morning!
• Know exactly what you are busy about....and get it done.
• Take total control of the only thing we each have the exact same amount of every single day....time.
• Get your email inbox to zero and keep it that way so your email isn't running you, you are running your email.
• Unlock the secret potential of your future hidden in your daily habits.

Productivity Mastery Key Five - EMAIL CONTROL

Email Inbox Control - Clean Up

Mass Deleting & Filing

The fact is, at least 80% of your emails do not require any real significant action on your part so get comfortable using the delete button.

A word of caution however....be ruthless but not reckless with deleting. DO NOT read each email in its entirety - at this stage you are focusing on weeding out all of the unnecessary noise and the emails you don't need to do anything with.

Sort & delete emails by FROM

Sort & delete emails by SUBJECT

Sort & file emails by DATE

Processing Emails One by One

Now that you have mass filed and deleted, you should only have about 20% of your email backlog left. This is where you sit down and process each email one by one. 

Email Inbox Control - Set Up

Set Up Processing Folders

Action Folder

Read Folder

Holding Folder

*Check out our blogs Productivity Mastery Key One - Prioritize and Productivity Mastery Key Two - Task Management.

Set Up Reference Folders

Set up reference folders into larger buckets with NO sub-folders (and definitely no sub-sub-folders).

A smaller number of folders ensures you make quicker decisions about where to file an email when you are processing your inbox plus it leaves fewer options and makes it easier to look for an email in the future.

Email Inbox Control - Processing Emails

Process Emails 1-3x a Day

Your email inbox is where new emails land and are waiting for you to process them, that's it.

*Schedule in your calendar 1-3 times a day to keep your inbox at zero. Resist the urge to check your emails at any other time unless you are expecting an urgent message. We only do this to procrastinate on work, when our brains have decision fatigue or to look busy. 

Clear the handful of emails that have accumulated in your inbox since the last time you checked and you will always be at zero!

*Read our blog Productivity Mastery Key Three - Commitments to learn how to set up your calendar so you never miss a beat.

Either run the day or the day runs you.

Productivity Mastery Key Five - ROUTINES

Read our next blog in our 5-part series Productivity Mastery Key Five - Routines as we discuss the final key to overcome your productivity overwhelm.

The secret of your future is hidden in your daily habits.

Claim Your Exclusive Productivity Mastery E-Book

I truly hope you found the information in this blog useful, helpful and transformational.

I want you to experience the freedom and success that getting organizing and more productive brings.

The whole reason my company exists is to support you to move from frustration and overwhelm to confident and in total control of your work.

To claim your copy of my exclusive Productivity Mastery 5 Keys to Overcome Productivity Overwhelm e-book (valued at $49), use the link below to download your copy of this valuable resource.

You are ready for this!

Additional Resources & Links

Productivity Mastery Key 1 - PRIORITIZE
Productivity Mastery Key 2 - TASK MANAGEMENT
Productivity Mastery Key 3 - COMMITMENTS
Productivity Mastery Key 4 - EMAIL INBOX CONTROL
Productivity Mastery Key 5 - ROUTINES
Top 10 Productivity Secrets 
Perfectionism is the Enemy of Productivity
FREE GUIDE: Keeping Your Home Organized Through Every Season
It's True You Can be Productive While Working From Home and Here's How

Have a Question For Me?

If you have a question for me, use the comment box below and I will respond to you within 48 hours (or sooner).

I am here for you.

How to get your email inbox to zero...and keep it that way!

If I were to ask you right now "How many emails do you have in your inbox?" what would you say? 50? 150? 300? 7,000? 

If you have over 50-100 unprocessed emails in your inbox, chances are this is causing you to be unproductive and experience email overwhelm.

Now imagine your email inbox has zero emails in it. 

Does that change your feeling of being overwhelmed to being in control of your workload?

What if you had a simple formula to get your email inbox to zero and keep it that way for good?   

This would be a game changer for you and how you feel about your work.

People who make a daily practice of keeping their email inbox clean are in control of their tasks and deadlines. They are in the loop with internal and external communications. Leaving the office on time without stressing about what might be buried in all of those emails is something they enjoy.

Sounds great, right?

Follow these simple steps and you will get your email inbox to zero and keep it that way....for good.

STEP ONE: Mass Deleting & Filing

The fact is, at least 80% of your emails do not require any real significant action on your part so get comfortable using the delete button. A word of caution however....be ruthless but not reckless with deleting. DO NOT read each email in its entirety - at this stage you are focusing on weeding out all of the unnecessary noise and the emails you don't need to do anything with.

Sort & delete emails by FROM

Sort & delete emails by SUBJECT

Sort & file emails by DATE

STEP TWO: Processing Emails One by One

Now that you have mass filed and deleted, you should only have about 20% of your email backlog left. This is where you sit down and process each email one by one. 

When you make a decision for each and every email, your email inbox will be at zero.

How to keep your email inbox at zero

Now that you are on top of your email inbox and no longer scrolling up and down wasting precious hours a day and stressing about what you are missing or not getting done, here is how you keep your emails at zero.

STEP ONE: Set Up Processing Folders

Action Folder

Read Folder

Holding Folder

STEP TWO: Set Up Reference Folders

Set up reference folders into larger buckets with NO sub-folders (and definitely no sub-sub-folders). A smaller number of folders ensures you make quicker decisions about where to file an email when you are processing your inbox plus it leaves fewer options and makes it easier to look for an email in the future.

STEP THREE: Process Emails 1-3x a Day

Your email inbox is where new emails land and are waiting for you to process them, that's it.

Schedule in your calendar 1-3 times a day to keep your inbox at zero. Resist the urge to check your emails at any other time unless you are expecting an urgent message. We only do this to procrastinate on work, when our brains have decision fatigue or to look busy. 

Clear the handful of emails that have accumulated in your inbox since the last time you checked and you will always be at zero!

Interested in a Step-by-Step Guide to Clean Out Your Inbox and Keep it That Way?