Does a slight sense of panic take hold when you open your mailbox in the morning? Are you always left with a pile of unread emails? I know the feeling. Or rather: I used to. Because now I end all my workdays with an empty inbox. (Or almost, anyway—nobody’s perfect). Organizing your mailbox: how do you get started?
As a project manager, I receive a mountain of emails every day. About everything and anything. The first step away from the chaos: organizing your mailbox by creating a folder for every client. Within that, a folder for each of our in-house services: branding, creative, website, media… And finally, a separate folder with a clear name for every project.
Example: suppose I need to prepare a briefing for the flyer for the Fashion Night of clothing chain noba. Then I park all the info in noba > Creative > Fashion Night > Flyer.
Is a project finished? Then I put an asterisk next to the name. This way, I can immediately see which assignments are still ongoing and which ones I don’t need to pay attention to.
Every so often, I park all inactive projects in an archive folder. Per quarter, for example. Or per (half) year. That depends on the volume of assignments we carry out for that specific client.
For me as a project manager, there are two types of urgent emails. First, those assignments for which I need extra input—internally or from the client themselves. Second, those projects where my colleagues are up next: our copywriters, the web boys, studio…
In the first case, I try to request that input immediately. This way, we don’t get stuck at a later stage. In the second case, I translate that email into a clear briefing and book the assignment with the right colleague. Mentioning the client, the project, and including a reminder for myself. This ensures the assignment reappears on my radar in time.
Afterwards, I drag that email to the correct folder in my folder structure. As soon as that reminder starts flashing on my screen, I can quickly fish out the right information again.
The emails I can handle myself are not as urgent. I mark those with a flag for later. Because I don’t want a certain colleague to be waiting for a briefing because I’m dealing with an email that can actually wait.
Only when things are a bit quieter does my attention turn to the flags. Handled? Then I drag these emails to the correct place within my folder structure as well.
I collect absolutely all important content in my mailbox. So it makes sense that I do the same for my notes. I write out meetings in emails to myself. Same for briefings from colleagues. This way, I keep everything central in one place.
So, those were my tips for ending your workday with an empty mailbox. Or at least as good as empty—everyone has an off day once in a while. Organizing your mailbox: now go show your inbox who’s boss!