How to Beat Inbox Overwhelm

On this episode

Our inboxes are overflowing and overwhelming. The sheer number of emails and the constant notifications can make it hard to focus. It feels like there’s no way to keep up, and we end up stressed, dreading what’s waiting for us.

The problem isn’t the emails themselves – it’s the lack of a system to manage and prioritise them. But by setting up a triage system and creating simple rules, we can stop emails from running our lives.

Start by checking emails only when you have time to act on them. Deal with anything that takes less than two minutes immediately. For the rest, there are 6 folders you can create, which will help you keep everything manageable:

• Action (urgent)
• Action
• Read later
• Safe place
• Finance
• Archive

It’s easy to feel out-of-control when our inbox is full and the unread badge is glaring at us. Important emails get lost in the chaos, our tasks pile up, and our stress levels rise. But there’s plenty we can do to regain control.

The first thing to do? Turn off those email notifications!