I will soon start a new job where I expect to receive significantly more emails than I do currently. So far, I haven’t had a system in place, except for marking emails as unread until I respond and occasionally using flags.
I would like to change that practice, now that I have a clean slate. But how do I start managing my inbox?
I use Mac Mail and would like to continue using it. I know how to set up rules and create smart mailboxes etc., but I can’t really see the potential.
Thank you!
Personally I automatically label and filter out of my inbox automatic emails, stuff that come often. So my inbox usually only has mails that concern me. And then I handle them the same way as you do: keep them unread till I handle them. Then archive those that are “ended”.
The first thing I do when I start at a new place is create a mark “X accepted your meeting invite” mails as read & auto-archive.
Immediately cuts out so much noise, and you will still get any Tentative/Declined in your inbox. Always the first thing because at the beginning you are likely setting up lots of meetings with new people.
This is exactly how I do mine as well. Using the “+label” with Gmail (address+label@gmail.com) helps with filtering as well.