Our recurring theme is the Spirituality of Clutter.  Clutter is anything we don’t need, use or love.  It gets in the way, and clogs up our life.  Even information like email can become clutter and has a spiritual side, as well.  Why?

1. Email represents opportunities or information we want in the future; or nagging lists of To-Do’s, should do’s or buy’s, etc. 
2. In the hectic pace of our lives, we don’t make or take time for maintenance.
3. We don’t have or don’t trust our system for sorting or storing information.  We keep emails for reference, but we don’t know what to do past that.

 Delete old emails, and receive fewer new ones:

• Asked three clients, and they reported in-boxes with 1090, 9386 and approx 250,000 (yes, 250,000) emails.
• This should go without saying, but sort your in-box in reverse chronological order, listing most recent emails first.
• Turf emails older than 3 months to a folder called “Opened Email, 2011 and before” or something like that.  If you don’t have any folders right now, that is a great first folder.
• Spend 5-10 minutes a day tossing emails older than 3 years, then 2 years, then 1 year, then 6 months, etc.  Make it a habit, at least until you’ve whittled down your number.  I can’t give you a target number, but when opening your email becomes less of a stressful chore, you are getting close! 
• Don’t worry about losing public information, you can always look up directions or a phone number again.
• If you belong to listservs, set up to receive daily Digest emails, instead of all individually. 
• Writing this article has inspired me to unsubscribe from unnecessary mailing lists. 

 Take care of new email better:

1. Signing up for catalogs, newsletters and blogs online cuts my paper waste, but fills up my email!  One client mentioned feeling “harassed” by emails, and I concur!
2. Delete easy stuff immediately, like retailer emails unless you are actively shopping there.  More will always come.  Or go to the main website and bookmark it to keep the information, then delete or unsubscribe. 
3. Set up filters or folders for important stuff.  If you have a paper filing system you like, name your email folders similarly.  Or, name folders based on projects, topics, actions to take, etc. 
4. A friend mentioned that Gmail can filter emails of a particular type into a folder, to collect for future review.  Awesome!
5. Turn emails into actions:
   • The emails in my in-box need my attention.  Once I complete an action on an email, I file it in a folder or delete it.
   • Today, I actually listed the actions required on my to-do list, and attached them to times this week to act on them.  This is something new to me, but I know it will help!  And once the action is complete, the email goes to its folder.  Gmail has a to-do list function, too, for turning your emails into action.

 Be a better sender.

1. Review an email you received, and your response before you send it.  Answer the questions asked, or the email will continue.
2. Consider others and their time.  Take yourself and others off Copy, if you can, and don’t click Reply To All unless you need to. 
3. Never list more than a dozen emails in the To: line.  Use BCC, blind copy, to eliminate that irritating 6 inches of addresses before the actual message.  This respects privacy, too, by not sharing addresses. 
4. Create groups or mailing lists in your address book to save time. 
5. If you have to forward something, including jokes, DELETE everything but the content before sending.
6. Just heard these items on a class I took recently with Callahan Solutions, Inc.:
   1. Start with your conclusion, Bottom Line On Top (BLOT statement), so your reader knows immediately if they need to continue reading.
   2. List your Action items at the top of email, too, so make them easy to see
   3. Make long emails easier on your reader’s eyes, adding white space, bullet points and outlines.
7. Use NRR (No Response Required) in your subject line if you are sending it purely for information.  And if you receive an email that doesn’t need a response, fight the urge to send a “great” or “ok”. Let it end with you.
8. Use an “if- then” qualifier (who gave me this idea? RY?).  For example, “If we can expect your regular Tuesday delivery, then there is no need to respond”.
9. The more we send out the more we receive.  And sometimes a phone call is just quicker.

Email is a great form of communication.  Put a little time and effort into your email system, and it will get even better!  Now, email me a response to let me know what you think….