Talane’s Blog of the Week, February 12, 2007

A Classic Tip from Talane...
How To Get Rid Of E-Mail Clutter, Part I
The E-Mail Delete Club

All clutter takes up a certain amount of psychological space and can leave a person feeling burdened or sluggish. Getting rid of clutter creates an immediate sense of order and control, often accompanied by a feeling of lightness and freedom. E-Mail clutter seems to accumulate faster than anything - even for normally well-organized folks. If you have a few too many e-mails hanging out in your inbox, "The E-Mail Delete Club" is for you.

Every morning I would open up my e-mail to find an ever-growing pile in my inbox. As much as I'd try to handle everything on the spot, I had somehow managed to collect close to 700. I felt burdened by the sheer number and kept putting off this dreaded task until one day I discovered an e-mail from a prospective client that I had overlooked in the pile. Time to take action.

Sound familiar? Here's how to start clearing the decks.

Create a Buddy System. Having someone to report to holds us accountable. Nobody wants to report that they haven't made some progress, and checking in with someone else is fun and helpful. If you can quickly and easily clear out your box on your own, great. But if not, then don't waste another minute and get a buddy to work with. Call or e-mail each other once a day (for no more than five minutes) to report your progress. Just about everyone can get things done faster and easier if they have a little friendly support.
Start by reporting to your buddy the current number of old e-mails to delete. When I did this with a group of buddies, immediately I felt better as some folks had thousands of old e-mails lurking about. Suddenly my 700 looked pretty manageable (one reason misery loves company). We each stated how many e-mails we would delete each day to reach the zero goal. This onerous task was actually becoming fun.

Stay tuned for more next week!

All the best,
Talane