How do you deal with email overload and prioritize your email tasks for your executive?

I'm 30+ years in the industry, starting off as a fresh-faced 18 year old in a junior audio secretary (remember them?) role, I would type up letters, faxes and memos ON TO PAPER and send whichever means. Moving into the 21st century... I organise my inbox with folders and in priority. As I support a number of senior leadership, they have their own folders, each with a rule. Other mailboxes I manage have their rules too, plus an additional link in the favourites so I see any new mail immediately upon opening my email. With having it set out this way, I can see instantly who's emailed me and who will be prioritised. CREATE RULES is the one function I would say utilise!

Be sure to create rules in your mail system for certain senders to ensure that the mail you need to prioritize is available and the items that can be addressed later are placed appropriately.

I've been contemplating the traditional folder tree setup. While this structure once had a place in our professional hard copy lives, is it still relevant? Attending an email management session prompted a fresh perspective, advocating for just four folders. The rationale is clear: advanced search functionality, diminishes the need for an intricate folder labyrinth. Now, rules, conditional formatting and categories take the lead in directing emails to folders. Folder 1 acts as a sorting hub, leveraging the Eisenhower Matrix which informs Folders 2 and 3. Folder 4 is a "final destination" —once read, they're deleted. Less folders, less filing time. Personal preferences play a crucial role, consider adapting these strategies for your needs.

Less is more. I used to have a sub folder for every person. All this did is clog up my folders by taking up more of my time with sorting them. Now I only use folders by team/ department and it is so much cleaner and faster to file once I am done with an email. Chances are you will not be looking from the email from so and so a year later and if you are, the search function will be much faster to find it then looking through their individual folder.

Following these tips and making little adjustments over the years has significantly increased my productivity. First, delete or archive as many recent emails as you can. Then, forward what can be best answered by someone else. Any new emails that can be responded to in less than five minutes should be replied to immediately. Transfer new emails to the "needs response" folder if they can be answered later or if they will take more than five minutes to respond. Allocate a specific time daily to reply to emails in the "needs response" folder.

I couldn't get my job done without using filtering! I personally use Gmail, but I know it's possible through every other email form out there. It's actually not as overwhelming as it may seem to get started - I scroll back through the last couple weeks of emails, take note of where the majority of emails are coming from, and start building my filters based off of that (in Gmail they're called labels). Then I create sub-filters, and using Gmail's filtering system set some emails to automatically go straight to their labels and skip the inbox, some to get flagged as important, and - most importantly, to avoid cluttering up an already-full inbox, some to get deleted. Color-coding helps this process stay simple as well.

Explore a savvy approach to effective email management. Timeboxing overarches all suggestions and while this strategy may not work for everyone, growing evidence supports it as a bona fide productivity hack. Additionally, employ a "one-touch" mindset while utilizing the Eisenhower Matrix for prioritizing tasks. Now, when it comes to sorting and organizing your emails, consider setting up some "rules." These rules can move emails to specific folders, flag or perform other actions, streamlining your inbox management. Couple with conditional formatting; now important stakeholders/projects have your attention. One last tip, use your inbox as your to-do list...as for filling, less is more.

Scheduling email review/reply into my daily activities saves me so much time and allows for me to ensure that no messages are being missed, but that I have time to complete all of my other tasks. I absolutely check my emails first thing in the morning, mid-day (after lunch) and before leaving for the day to ensure that I have captured and assessed all the to-do items at hand.

This is also extremely helpful when you think about your employees experience. Something that is low importance, does not need to be sent to the team outside their working hours. By using schedule send, you can delay the message until they are back in business, avoid anxiety, and respect their work/life balance.

The 4Ds rule is, without a doubt, my go-to framework for managing emails—especially when I return to work after a few days off and find hundreds of messages waiting in my inbox. Depending on the volume of emails you need to sort through, using the reading pane can help you quickly skim the content. Another helpful feature is email threading, which allows you to focus on the most recent message in a thread for easier follow-up. While I don't use these features daily, they're incredibly useful for those times when my inbox starts to feel overwhelming. Then, applying the 4 Ds rule becomes even simpler.

When I started implementing templates into my daily schedule, my life got so much easier! I love having a framework to start and end some conversations. It helps me save time instead of having to individually construct responses to every single message. I also have the flexibility to adjust any template and add additional information, but the template gives me a head start and keeps my work, voice, and content consistent.

One thing I've found extremely useful is an AI-powered tool called Superhuman. My inbox is at Zero 99% of the time. It offers a great variety of features which include intuitive shortcuts to help you manage emails much faster; it splits the inbox into different areas of focus based on your needs; it stores pre-built emails & reminds you to follow up when the person hasn't responded to you. It makes you way more quick and efficient!

It is essential that emails are professional, polished and polite. It seems obvious to some, but be sure to have a greeting at the top and your closing at the bottom. Your signature should be clean and precise. If you are accepting and replying for an executive, be sure to bring your A game!

Downloading an AI tool that is not already installed or approved can create a multitude of hoops to jump through with the IT department, and it being correctly procured for a corporate license. I find being involved in key meetings helps me understand the priorities of my Executive and the organization, thus filtering down to being able to skim-read emails, recognize what they are, and flag them as a priority. I am not a fan of too many folders, I see this as pushing emails from one area to another, shuffling rather than dealing with them. I skim the inbox select the ones that need a response and drag them into a calendar entry (locked as private) to be reviewed and answered at an allocated time for my Executive.

Consider Bcc'ing yourself on sent emails to create a dynamic to-do list and use as a visual prompt for tasks. Employ the 4Ds or Eisenhower Matrix and integrate with your calendar for a structured workflow, dedicated time slot and efficient management. This systematic approach, combining inbox and calendar management, ensures effective task and project handling. Additionally, leverage categories to not only enhance organizational efficiency but also contribute to data metrics useful for performance reviews. These metrics quantify your organizational skills, task completion rates and contributions; adding a data-driven dimension to showcase your efficiency across various responsibilities.

Using conditional formatting can be a lifesaver! I change the text color for priority senders. When in my email box, it helps me easily identify which emails I should be prioritized first.