8 practical ways to manage an inbox that feels like it’s managing you

In January, it reached a fever pitch: I felt controlled by my email inbox, which I checked at all hours and an unhealthy number of times throughout the day.

I constantly felt behind and overwhelmed, and everyday was overshadowed by a frantic energy of trying to dig myself out.

As a coach, my email is an important touchpoint for my clients to contact me with questions and it's also the home of my business operations (scheduling sessions, booking events, etc). All the things to keep up with add up. Fast.

I preach to managers all the time: how you manage your communications isn't just a personal choice—it sets the culture and expectations for your entire team. If you check email on vacation, on the weekend, or at 10pm at night, it creates a norm that others will feel that they need to match.

Because I'm a solopreneur, it didn't occur to me that I need to follow my own advice. But here I am, modeling what it means to be a mission-driven leader, to create your own custom career path, to be a mom and business owner. And I need to do better for myself and for others.

So I'll admit: instead of managing my email, I've been letting it manage me.

It's time for an intervention. Here are eight steps I've taken to change that dynamic. (Note: I know not everyone uses Gmail, but let's be real—a lot of us do, including me. That's why my tips center around that platform.)

1) Put email in its place.
I deleted the email app from my phone. GONE. These days, I'm not out and about all day. I'm never far from my laptop. So why am I constantly checking my email on my phone? Often, I'm checking it when I'm not in a position to reply—I'm tricking myself into thinking that I'm working, when really I'm just adding to my stress. I watch the messages pile up and the mounting anxiety takes me away from my all-important time away from work. It's time to remove that stress and only check email when I'm in a position to respond.

2) Hide notifications.
I long ago turned off notifications and banners for email on my phone, but I also have a tool to mute those enticing (1)'s and dings on my computer. I use a Google Chrome plugin called Inbox When Ready for Gmail. It allows me to hide my inbox until I click a button to view it, so I'm not constantly interrupted or distracted by incoming messages (hey Google, why isn't this a standard feature?). I set it to lock my inbox from 9pm to 6am so I can't access my email, and I can limit the amount of time I view it each day. Boundaries!

3) Set expectations.
I added my office hours to my email signature, which now reads:

---
Carole Ann Penney, CPC (she/her)
Strategic Career Coach
Penney Leadership, LLC
Developing mission-driven leaders
In the office M, W, Th, Sa
www.penneyleadership.com

Revising my signature was helpful to communicate my workflow to others, but more so it felt like writing myself a great big permission slip. I don't feel beholden to whatever vague rule I've made up for myself in my head about needing to respond to everything immediately.

4) Use templates.
There are some common emails that I write—introducing two people in my network to each other, getting a new client set up to begin our work together, and confirming meetings. I set up templates in Gmail to allow me to start with a draft rather than a blank page. I fill in the blanks, personalize, and send away. It's like a gift from my past self.

5) Exercise email debt forgiveness.
There always seem to be a few messages hanging around the bottom of my inbox. Sometimes it's because I'm not sure what to say. Sometimes it's because the next step is unclear. And I'm realizing—sometimes it's because it's not really important. I'm playing with a new idea of allowing myself to just let go of those messages: to either politely turn the opportunity down or give myself permission to let the chain go entirely. (Hats off to PJ & Alex, the creators of National Email Debt Forgiveness Day)

6) Schedule send.
As a parent working from home, my workflow often falls outside of the standard 9-5 workday. Sometimes my best time of day for correspondence is 9:30pm; sometimes the best time of week for me is Sundays at 4pm. But just because I'm writing then doesn't mean I need to send it then, too. I schedule my emails to send on the next business day. In doing so, I support my boundaries AND the boundaries of others.

7) Unsubscribe.
My inbox is like my desk—if it's cluttered, I feel overwhelmed. The only thing better than clearing it off is making sure that stuff I don't need doesn't land there in the first place! I get a jolt of joy each time I unsubscribe from marketing emails. No, I don't need to hear about products that will entice and distract me when I could just go to the website. I no longer need that email newsletter that served me in the past but doesn't reflect my current direction. Hitting unsubscribe preserves my attention for what matters most.

8) Add energizing emails to your contacts (like this one).
The inverse of unsubscribing: ensuring that the things I find most supportive, valuable, and inspirational are coming to me. Right now, that's nuggets of wisdom from Seth Godin and perspectives on running a stronger business from Tara McMullin. I truly hope that you look forward to issues of The Strategic Leader's Toolbox as much as I look forward to hearing from them. To ensure that I'm fueled by their words and perspectives, I added them to my contacts so that their messages have a place of honor in my inbox. All you need to do is drag the email from promotions into your primary inbox tab. (Gmail will ask if you want future messages from the sender to land there—click Yes.) Not a Gmail user? Add me to your contacts or safe senders list.

So far, these eight practices are adding up to a lot more peace in my life.

I feel more proactive versus reactive.

I am taking control of my time and attention rather than allowing whatever shows up there to dictate how I spend my days.

And that helps me to be a more sustainable and effective leader—and a better role model to others.