Is your email backlog contributing to a sense of overwhelm?
How many emails are sitting in your email inbox right now?
How do you feel when you open your email inbox?
This post is for the therapist who dreads looking at their email inbox because they have an overwhelming number of emails that they don’t know what to do about.
This post is for the therapist who finds their email inbox distracting and worries that important tasks are falling through the cracks because they are lost in an overflowing email inbox.
This post is for the therapist who hesitates to delete emails because they don’t want to miss out on important information.
All of the above therapists described above used to be me years ago. Prior to making a commitment to cleaning out my email backlog and creating a system to manage my email inbox more effectively, I had thousands of emails sitting in my practice and personal email inboxes. As a mom of young kids juggling family life + building a private practice, I had too much on my plate and didn’t prioritize figuring out how to implement a system that would make my email inbox more manageable.
Slowly, I worked through my email backlog and now have a very manageable number of emails in my inboxes each day. Sometimes I even have zero items in my inbox!
You can do this!
Ready to eliminate email backlog?
Tips for therapists who are ready to eliminate email backlog:
Commit to eliminating your email backlog
Block off time on your schedule to work through your email backlog. I found that 30 minute chunks of time work well for this type of project. You’ll be surprised by how many emails you can clear out of your inbox in 30 minutes, especially if you follow the suggestions shared in this post.
Tip: Avoid multiple “touches” to emails from the same person. Sort emails by type of email or the sender’s name and address all similar emails at once in order to avoid unnecessarily shifting your mental energy between types of emails.
Delete, Delete, Delete
My quick guide to deciding when to delete an email:
Does this email require action?
Does this email contain information I need now or in the future?
If no, then DELETE! If yes, then take action or file.
Tip: Avoid getting distracted by clicking links or redirecting your attention to other tasks. Create a folder for all emails that require follow up and come back to that folder after your 30 minute work session.
Unsubscribe as you go
Ask yourself “Does this email list offer me value right now?”
Notice and challenge mindset blocks that contributed to email backlog
Examples:
Ask yourself “Do I really need the information contained in this email?” Really?
Ask yourself if the email lists you are subscribed to are adding value RIGHT NOW
Start thinking in terms of systems
As you are spending time in your inbox, start to identify a system that will work well for managing your email going forward. I’ll share more information about the system that I am currently using in an upcoming post.
You can do this!
Commit the time, use the strategies above and I know you, too, can find more ease in managing your email inbox. Let me know if you need support in developing a personalized strategy to tackle your email backlog.
Take Care,
Sarah
One final tip: Cleaning out your email inbox would be a great task to work on during a co-working session because you would add in a layer of accountability as you work on this potentially big task.
Check out the schedule for upcoming Vibrant Therapist Virtual Work Sessions here.