---
title: 14 ways to manage your email inbox and put it on a diet
description: Do your email more efficiently, manage your inbox, cut down waste and get things done with these 14 ways to tame your email.
image: https://geekboss.com/hubfs/AdobeStock_2729678-1-3-1.jpg
---

[Productivity](https://geekboss.com/blog/tag/productivity)

# 14 ways to put your inbox on a diet

[ By Matthew Stibbe ![Matthew Stibbe](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/c0fe13642b2329271b9ce0a5b41d744a) ](https://geekboss.com/blog/author/matthew-stibbe)

 Published 18/Nov/2019  Updated April 24 2023

![Man overloaded with files and documents](https://geekboss.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AdobeStock_2729678-1-3-1.jpg?width=1600&height=1000&name=AdobeStock_2729678-1-3-1.jpg)

So much for the paperless office: either you’ve got an email inbox that each day brings fresh hell in the form of hundreds of messages, or you’ve got an in-tray brim-full of paper – or, if you’re particularly unlucky, you’ve got both.

If you want to de-clutter, you may need to put aside a little time. But you can use the tips below to speed up the process and set up some guidelines to keep your inbox from overflowing again:

1. **Get a virtual PA**. Hire a virtual assistant from a service such as the UK’s [Blue Umbrella](https://www.blueumbrella.co.uk/) to get back on top of things. They should be able to create a ‘system’ for you, too. Or steal this tip from Danny Meyer of Union Square Hospitality: his PA aggregates correspondence and sends him a four-part memo every day.
2. **Use collaboration software**. Keep weighty project documents and designs on a [wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki) or in [Dropbox](https://www.dropbox.com/).
3. **Organise your email**. First tackle the backlog. Set up an ‘old’ box and go through it in chunks, first by date, then sender, suggests [Bob Hallewell at Expert Messaging](https://www.theguardian.com/money/2009/sep/28/clear-your-inbox). Then set up a system of folders and files, and automatically route mail to the right place. Apply the 4 Ds: delegate it; do it (if it takes under two minutes) delegate it; or defer it and convert it into a task.
4. **Move messages along**: [Taskforce](https://lifehacker.com/taskforce-adds-lists-and-upgrades-its-gmail-task-manage-5788973) or [ActiveInbox](https://www.activeinboxhq.com/) can help you prioritise and quickly turn messages into tasks.
5. **Encourage good behaviour**: You can use your signoff and out of office autoresponders to lay down ground rules about how you use email. Adopt company-wide practices to discourage over-emailing: some companies allocate a certain number of ‘stamps’ to senders while [Nielsen media went as far as to disable the ‘reply all’ function](https://hbr.org/2009/09/how-much-is-information-overlo) on company email.
6. [**Unsubscribe**](https://zenhabits.net/email-sanity/) from things you never read. Cull your inbox/intray regularly.
7. **Consolidate networks**: use tools such as [Buffer](https://buffer.com/) to centralise your social media activity. Use your social network to filter which blogs you read.
8. **Read faster**: use RSVP software such as [Spreeder](https://www.spreeder.com/) to improve your speed-reading.
9. **Use the phone instead**: the more email you send, the more you receive. Talk to people instead.
10. **File**: de-cluttering your paperwork offers good mental downtime.
11. [Shred](https://unclutterer.com/) regularly.
12. **Try the ‘one touch’ rule**: only allow yourself to ‘touch’ a piece of correspondence once before acting upon it (either by filing, delegating, binning). If you can’t remember, initialise it every time you look at it.
13. **Move it online:** Move as much as possible online. For example, you can do [expense claims](https://www.turbinehq.com/expenses) and [time-off requests](https://www.turbinehq.com/time-off-requests) online in Turbine. You can store valuable documents in the cloud, too, with SME-focused options such as Mozy.
14. Encourage better email etiquette to keep your inbox down.
15. **If all else fails**… Declare email bankruptcy and start with a clean slate.

[![How to choose an agency for your new website](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/289742/aab369e3-a371-48eb-a47f-85895833e378.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/289742/aab369e3-a371-48eb-a47f-85895833e378)

---

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