Here's how to handle the mountain of emails when you return from vacation:
1. Set aside a specific time slot in your calendar for the day you return
. You need to get started on this from day one—the danger is procrastinating and putting off the inevitable…
. Why not try the famous Pomodoro Technique, which suggests setting a timer for 25 minutes at a time to focus intensely on a task before taking a short break?
2. Sort through and organize
. Creating a filing system can be a good solution. You can also separate items that require a quick response from those that need more in-depth processing, depending on the level of urgency. The best approach is to do some preliminary sorting before leaving, using specific filtering rules, so that when you return, your inbox is already partially organized.
3. Filter out unwanted messages
, newsletters, ads, white papers, press releases… all those little everyday messages that don’t require any action or response just add to the pile of messages you have to sort through in your inbox; moving them to a folder can help clear out the backlog
4. Choose how to sort your emails
: Should you start with the oldest ones and go back through the weeks you were away, or, on the contrary, start with the most recent messages you’ve received?
: A sender may have sent you several emails; by starting with the most recent one, you’ll save valuable time.
5. Take a short break
once you’ve dealt with the urgent matters and priorities. If you haven’t finished sorting everything after a few hours, it’s perfectly fine to move on to other tasks for the day and finish the pruning the next day.
inspired by Start Echoes