This blog post is part of a new series we’re doing on Food Blogger Pro called Keep it Neat. The series will cover simple tips to help you keep your blogging life neat and tidy.
Easier said than done, eh? 🙂
Today I’m sharing a tip for keeping your Gmail inbox neat.
My personal goal is to “do email” once a day. When I login to my email account I try and work all the way through my inbox until it’s completely empty.
This process works great until I find an email that I can’t respond to. Maybe I don’t have the information I need, maybe I don’t have enough time, or maybe it would make more sent to respond to someone a little bit later on in the week.
Regardless of the reason, an email that’s left in the inbox results in a disappointing scenario: an almost empty inbox. I’m not sure about you, but I hate that feeling.
Okay, you’re right…hate is a strong word. Let’s go with “really, really dislike that feeling.”
I also find that sometimes I check that same email multiple times if it just sits in my inbox, resulting in wasted time and brain power.
So what’s the solution?
Boomerang
After doing some research I found the best way to deal with the issue was to use a Gmail app called Boomerang.
There are lots of different ways to use Boomerang, but the feature I use the most is the reminders feature.
Check out this video to see how I use the app:
My (new and improved) email workflow
- Open email once a day.
- Unsubscribe from unnecessary marketing emails.
- Archive emails that do not need to be read.
- Forward messages that need to be sent on.
- Respond to short emails and customer support inquires.
- Respond to longer emails (if there’s time).
- Boomerang emails that I can’t respond to yet.
- Do a happy dance once my inbox is empty.
Boomerang works for regular Gmail accounts as well as branded Google Apps accounts.
If you’re not a Food Blogger Pro member you should be. 🙂 You can learn more by visiting the home page.
How about you?
What’s your email workflow? Are you able to respond to emails once a day? Do you try and get to “inbox zero”?
Genius! I need this in my life. Installing Boomerang now. BOOM!
Badda bing badda BOOM!
The ironic thing is that I am leaving this as unread in my inbox so I can follow up on it later (hangs head in shame).
Haha. You should only hang your head in shame if you still do this AFTER reading the post. 🙂
I installed Boomerang a while ago now and love it. I haven’t used the reminders feature yet but I love the ‘send later’ feature. As I work full time and blog in my spare time, it means that I can respond to emails at night, but schedule them to send in the daytime – it’s perfect!