4 Simple Steps to an Email Inbox Cleanup

If your email inbox is a hot mess, and it’s time for an email inbox cleanup, you’ve come to the right post. Here are 4 reasons causing your disorganized email inbox and what to do to get your email inbox cleaned up.

1. You’re Getting Crap

How many emails do you get that you never open? Do you delete them? Do they live in your inbox unread causing clutter? STOP!

Take the 30-45 seconds it takes to unsubscribe from emails you don’t need or no longer want. I’m guilty of swiping to delete emails I don’t want but guess what, they just keep coming and I have to delete them several times a week. That’s a lot of wasted time and mental energy when you add it up.

Once you take the step to unsubscribe, you’ll be amazed how much cleaner and clearer your inbox feels. It’s the simplest step to start your email inbox cleanup. Next time you get an email you don’t want, instead of deleting it, make sure you unsubscribe first.

2. You’re Lying to Yourself

Hear me out on this one. You get an email and you know you need to read it, respond to it, or take some kind of action but you say you’ll do it “later”. You do this a few times throughout the day and at the end of the day you’re too tired or need to get to the grocery store or school pickup line so you say, “later”. 

Guess what, “later” is never going to happen or, if it does, that handful of emails is now a mountain of emails. 

The other problem with saying you’ll process the emails later is that those emails get pushed down the inbox until they’re out of sight and, you guessed it, out of mind.

Stop lying to yourself about dealing with email “later” and either do it right away OR get a system like my Stars system I outline in my free email inbox cleanup guide.

3. Your Shit’s All Mixed Up

Are your socks, pants, shirts, pajamas, and shoes all piled up together in your closet? I bet not. So why in the world is your inbox a mix of different types of emails that have no business being shoved together in one place?!

You have emails you want to keep for future reference or just in case something happens. You don’t need to look at them often (or maybe ever!) so they shouldn’t be in the first place you see when logging in to your email aka your inbox.

Make some folders. Gmail calls them labels. You can even color code them if that’s your thing. What kinds of folders might you need? Here are some of mine:

There are more but those are some of them. Not only do folders make my inbox less cluttered, they help me find what I need fast. If I can’t remember the submission deadline for a summit I’m presenting at, I know exactly where to find that email! Need to find the login to access my kid’s school’s LMS, it’s in the LPS folder.

Make yourself some folders. You can thank me later. Seriously, tag me on Instagram and show off what you’ve accomplished! If you wanna get hella fancy, check out tip 2 on this post to create filters to send emails directly to folders instead of your inbox.

4. You’re not Letting Go

If you have emails from five years ago in your inbox, I have one thing to say to you, “WHY?!”. Do you really need those? Chances are you don’t.

Maybe you’re afraid to hit delete or maybe you just never get around to it. Who goes past the first or second page of their inbox? Almost no one. 

Reverse sort your email by date and delete those old emails contributing to your inbox number. 

That’s it. Four simple reasons your the mess and how to implement an email inbox cleanup. Getting it under control doesn’t take a miracle. It doesn’t take special skills or Herculean strength. All it takes is to get your email inbox organized (and keep it that way) is small, consistent actions. You can do that. I promise.

Want help making a plan or looking for organizational coaching? Click here to learn how to work with me.