How to manage email clutter on Mac

Inbox Zero: 6 Strategies That Actually Work Email, am I right? If you are like me, you probably have hundreds if not thousands of emails across multiple inboxes. You respond, you delete, and yet it seems like a Sisyphean task as the next day, your inbox is full again. My New Year's resolution was to reduce my work inbox to fewer than 500 emails and my personal inbox to below 100. I haven't accomplished that yet. So, I decided to ask AI for solutions and discovered practical strategies that significantly helped me reduce the number of emails in my inbox. 1. The 2-Minute Rule If responding takes less than 2 minutes, do it immediately. Don't let quick tasks pile up. 2. Schedule Email Time Blocks I check email just 3 times daily: Morning, midday and end of day. This prevents constant interruptions and reclaims 90+ minutes of focused work daily. 3. Use the "Touch-It-Once" Principle When you open an email, decide its fate immediately: • Respond • Delete • Archive • Delegate • Schedule for later action Tools that help me implement this: • Todoist: I forward emails requiring action to my task manager with one click • ClickUp: For emails that become projects, I create tasks directly from my inbox • Microsoft Teams: I've moved quick questions and daily communications from email to Teams chats No more marking as unread or revisiting the same messages repeatedly. 4. Create Smart Filters & Templates Set up filters for automatic sorting and use templates for repetitive responses. I reduced my email processing time by 40% this way. Some tools that transformed my workflow: • Gmail Filters: I automatically label emails by project and route newsletters to a "Read Later" folder • Microsoft Outlook Rules: Set up rules to move emails to dedicated folders • Copy'Em (MacOS): Saved templates for common responses (meeting scheduling, information requests) • Boomerang: Schedule emails to return to my inbox if no response within 3 days • Created a new inbox for general inquires and my admin helps monitor it. 5. Embrace the Weekly Reset Every Friday, I spend 20 minutes clearing out my inbox. This ritual prevents weekend anxiety and gives Monday a fresh start. I also use in-flight time to respond to messages; no Wi-Fi needed; they will go out when I get back online. 6. Ruthlessly Unsubscribe I dedicate 10 minutes monthly to unsubscribing from newsletters and promotional emails I no longer read. For each new subscription that comes in, I ask: "Does this provide real value?" If not, I unsubscribe immediately. Tools like Unroll.me have helped me identify and mass-unsubscribe from dozens of mailing lists I didn't even remember joining! What email management strategies work for you? Share in the comments! #ProductivityHacks #EmailManagement #WorkSmarter #ProfessionalDevelopment

Are your emails overwhelming you? Here's one of the easiest and simplest ways to organize your emails, a method I learned from an online course, called the Zero Inbox Method: 1- Archive all emails older than two weeks. This step alone can clean up more than 98% of your inbox if your email account is over five years old, based on personal experience. Most probably, you do not need an email older than two weeks, and even if you need it, you'll be able to find it through the search. Remember, we are just archiving not deleting. 2- Create a label called [Optional]. Its main function is to handle non-essential emails like newsletters. Personally, I don’t like unsubscribing from newsletters because they often contain learning resources and promotional offers I’m interested in. However, I don’t want them cluttering my inbox. (I’ll explain how to do this later.) 3- Whenever an email arrives, choose one of the following options: A- Address it immediately if it’s something simple, then archive it. B- Postpone it using the Snooze feature for later attention. 4- To send newsletters to the [Optional] label, you’ll need to create a Filter Rule. This will search for certain phrases in emails and automatically archive them, moving them to [Optional]. I’ll share a list of phrases I filter on, which effectively identifies most newsletters. 5- When I have free time, I check the [Optional] label for any headlines or offers that catch my attention. I often find useful things and am glad I didn’t unsubscribe. Important notes: *The above explanation mainly applies to Gmail, but it also works with Outlook, with slight differences in terminology. *Remember, we’re talking about archiving, not deleting emails, so you can easily search for them later. *From my experience, complicating and overusing labels is the main source of confusion. I used to have many labels, each with rules based on the sender, which caused me to miss important emails because I forgot to check certain labels (including several emails from a previous boss who once asked why I wasn’t responding). *Let me know in the comments if you think a video explanation would be better.

"My inbox is out of control, and I can't keep up." 734 emails in your inbox? That's overwhelming. But there's a systematic way to tackle this. Here are 3 proven steps to regain control of your inbox: 1. Archive strategically ↳ Move important emails out of sight ↳ Keep them safe without cluttering your view ↳ Remember: archiving isn't deleting 2. Unsubscribe systematically ↳ Create a "Later" folder for emails with "unsubscribe" ↳ Review these emails once ↳ Hit unsubscribe on newsletters you never read ↳ Stop letting unused subscriptions waste your time 3. Set inbox boundaries ↳ Choose 2 specific times daily ↳ Set strict time limits ↳ Stick to your schedule When I first tried this system: I was skeptical. I was attached to my emails. I thought I needed everything visible. Now my inbox stays under 10 emails. My stress levels dropped. My productivity increased. Try this system for one week. Track your results. Notice the difference. Bring in the New Year under control. 📌 Do you check your email more than twice per day? _______________________________________________ Hi 🌟 I'm Stephanie! An expert Executive Assistant dedicated to supporting executives with exceptional organizational and communication skills. 🌼 Keep smiling and stay productive!