Taking Control of Your Inbox: Declaring Email Bankruptcy, Reaching Inbox Zero, + Reducing Your Email-Induced Anxiety

I am really sick of email ruling my life. Even when it doesn't, it kind of does. [In the words of Nick Jonas, "Tryin' to break the chains but the chains only break me!"]

If you listen to the podcast, you've probably heard me mention (a couple of times, now) how overwhelming my inbox has been lately. You've also probably heard me mention something that I heard on Pat Flynn's podcast, "Email is just a convenient way to organize other people's agendas/needs." 

And it's true! Ever since I heard this statement, I haven't been able to get it out of my head. My email is always one of the biggest things holding me back from working on the big picture, and I don't like to think that the way I spend my time is being dictated by other people's agendas, instead of my own. 

But let me say this: I SO appreciate many (most!) of the emails that I get on a daily basis. The ones from you, my readers, the inquires from people who want to work with me or hire me in some capacity, the emails from students, the emails from friends + family, etc. However, as my business has grown, my inbox has grown with it, and it's gotten to the point where I have to make some changes. In fact, I've already started making some changes, and I'm really happy with how they're affecting my life. 

I guess you could say that I'm in the middle of/am slowly coming out of an inbox midlife crisis, and just like many solopreneurs before me, I'm learning that I simply have to set up some specific systems for handling my email, before it eats me alive. 

Do you understand this feeling of being ruled by your inbox? Does your inbox increase your anxiety because of all of the unread/unanswered requests that just sit there, taunting you? If so, you, too, might need a bit of help...

There are TONS of philosophies out there about how to best handle email overload, and there are many systems/concepts to choose from when you decide to start being more methodical in how you handle your inbox, but a few have stuck out to me, so I wanted to share them with you today. 

Here are the systems and approaches that I've been playing with in my own efforts to take control of my inbox: 

• Declaring email bankruptcy: I am in LOVE with the idea of email bankruptcy, and although I haven't gone as far as to declare it (it's really for people with more than 500 unread/un-handled emails in their inboxes, and I'm not that extreme!), I have been using some of the principles of email bankruptcy in my new email management system.
  
  Email bankruptcy is basically this: If things have gotten so out of control [in your inbox] that you can't possibly handle every email (500+ waiting for a response!), you can make the decision to declare email bankruptcy, which means you archive everything and start with a clean slate (inbox zero, which you'll read more about next). You don't archive everything blindly--there's a process for making sure you don't get rid of anything super important first--but then it's all just gone, handled or not.
  
  If this sounds like something you might need to do, you can read a great How-To here. 
  
  That being said, even though I haven't gone through all the steps of email bankruptcy per se, I have gone into my inbox and archived anything and everything from 2014 (and even 2013...eek!) that was still sitting there, waiting to be handled. For many of these emails, it's too late to respond (at this point it would be weird!?), and it is what it is. Do I feel guilty and weird about archiving the heart-warming "happy birthday" emails from some of my sweet readers that I never responded to (but SO meant to respond to!!!)? Yes. Did I hate myself [more than a little bit] when I archived the email from my high school art teacher (who I ADORE) from 2013? Yes. But did I know that I could never move forward if I didn't just archive the many, MANY emails like this? Yes. 
  
  If you have similar emails in your inbox that are weighing you down, you might want to do this, too. People will forgive you (I hope) and I can promise you that the world won't stop turning if you click the "archive" button.
  
  
• Using designated email response times: This is something that I've been working with for a while, and I've found it very helpful. Instead of answering emails as they come in, all throughout the day, or handling a couple of emails here and there, in between other tasks, I've moved to a system where I just set aside 30 minutes (or even an hour, sometimes), to handle email, once or twice per day (usually twice). It is purposeful and intentional and when the allotted time period is up, I move on.
  
  This system has saved me quite a bit of angst, but I can't tell you that it's quelled all of my email anxiety. I still accidentally check my phone in between my designated email response times, and if I see something that's come in and needs a response, I still get anxious about it. It's a work in progress ;) 
  
  **If you're really serious about this, the next step is taking your email off of your phone, so you can't check it in-between your designated response times. I'm not there yet, but I love this idea [in theory] and would like to be there one day...
  
  
• Handling emails IN ORDER: This has been a game-changer for me, and I'm working to get better at it every day. What do I mean by this? Well, here's how I used to "handle" email: Open my inbox. Pick an email that looks important. Read it. Maybe handle it, but if it's a bigger request that I can't handle right now, close it again, mark it as unread, and open another email that looks important. I would bounce around like that, opening and closing, answering some, not answering others, cherry-picking, and leaving unresolved emails sitting there. I would waste a lot of time opening, closing, and re-reading emails. 
  
  Here's what I'm doing (trying to do) now: When I open my inbox, I start with the top email and work my way down, in order, handling EACH email after I read it. If I really can't handle it right now (if handling it will take much more than about 2-3 mins), I'll add the task from the email to my to-do list, and leave the message in my inbox as read (so it doesn't look like something I haven't handled). Once I've handled it, I archive the email. 
  
  Need help with answering emails in order? You can download The Email Game (if you have gmail) and use this to help you clear out your inbox (it makes you go in order to reach inbox zero in a restricted time period!). 
  
  
• Implementing an 'Inbox Zero' system: Okay, so I'm not here yet, but this is my ultimate goal and I'm going to get there. What is inbox zero? Exactly what it sounds like--a system that implements all of the above to leave you with ZERO emails in your inbox at the end of every day. I know. Sounds dreamy, doesn't it? My goal is that by May, I'm there, starting fresh each day. 
  
  What does a goal of inbox zero require of you? That you handle every email that comes in, every day. That may mean that you create a folder for in-progress projects or items on your to-do list, and that you file those emails away for a response later, or that you create another system of your choosing, or perhaps it means that you delete a lot more emails than you used to, but whatever it looks like for you, it means that you are on top of your email game, yo. 

So what do you think? Do you want to join me in taking control of your inbox?

Oh, and one more *important* note on this subject, for anyone reading this who may have emailed me and never received a response:

I try my hardest to respond to every email that I receive, I really, really do. But sometimes, during really busy weeks or extra full time periods, emails slip through the cracks. If you wrote me a kind, thoughtful email that I never responded to (think, last year?), know that I did read it, it touched me, and I wholeheartedly meant to respond. But I might not have. It doesn't mean I don't adore you and/or appreciate what you had to say, it means that I was overwhelmed and couldn't handle it at the time. I hope you'll forgive me. 

Good luck with your inbox, everyone! We can do this! I'll be sure to snap a screenshot + share it with you when I get to my first inbox zero (ever?).