Are you one of the millions of people who have set a New Year's resolution for 2023? Fireworks lighting up the night sky on the 1st of January offers up a blank slate - it gives us a new-found sense of control over our lives and what we want to achieve.
Unfortunately, though, most New Year's resolutions fail within weeks. Why? Because it's easy to lose motivation, your priorities shift, or maybe life begins to catch up with you, and you're suddenly too busy again.
You need to break down your ambitious goals into bite-size, attainable chunks. And what better place to start than inbox zero?
Creating new habits in 2023 with inbox zero
After the New Year's celebrations are over, most people begin dreading returning to work. If you were lucky enough to have some time off over December, you've undoubtedly returned to an overflowing, unmanageable inbox. How can you be expected to pick up where you left off pre-Christmas when you have an obscene number of "urgent" requests or spam to filter through?
The good news is, the new year is a new opportunity to change the way you work for the better. It's your chance to create new working and email habits to keep yourself productive, motivated and stress-free. It's time to finally reach - and maintain - inbox zero.
How to do it?
At Mail Manager, we've put together a handful of blogs to help you reach the elusive 'inbox zero'. Take some time when you first get back to your desk after the holiday period and ask yourself the following:
- Why should I care about this email?
- Do I need to take any action on this?
- Is this information sensitive or time-critical?
- What should I do with this email?
Right off the bat, you should easily be able to determine whether you need to respond, delegate, delay your response, file, or delete the email.
According to Dr David Glance, Director of the Centre of Software Practice at the University of Western Australia, "An inbox with more than 20 emails becomes unmanageable. Along with all of the other communication channels, this becomes overwhelming very quickly, especially in times of high stress."
It's time to be ruthless with your email management, and it doesn't need to take up hours of your day.
Benefits of inbox zero
Inbox zero allows you to quickly and painlessly manage every email you receive. And once the email has been dealt with, it's out of sight, out of mind. You no longer need to experience that familiar dread of opening your Outlook inbox that's filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of emails that you need to action. Inbox zero means you can keep your mental capacity on the work that matters.
It's important to remember though that inbox zero doesn't simply mean deleting any email you ever receive. Depending on the role or industry you work in, you might have a legal obligation to maintain your emails and documents as records for a set amount of time. By filing your emails into central locations, accessible to your project or client teams, you can simultaneously get your inbox clear, while gaining peace of mind that you and your team will always be able to find the information you need.
Reclaim your productivity in 2023!
Struggling to finish your work in less time and with fewer resources isn't new. But we're here to help. Mail Manager is proud to be joined by Author and Productivity Ninja, Grace Marshall, on our webinar to help you unlock your productivity superpowers!
In the webinar, we'll cover why the secret to productivity lies in your mental capacity, what the key to recharging your brilliance is and how to embrace technology to enable your best human work.
Don't let an overflowing inbox stop you in your tracks in 2023. It's time to create new habits!
