1) Inbox Victory.
Inbox Victory is when you finally get your Inbox empty. Yes, it is just as ridiculous as it sounds, but it's such a relieving feeling.
You know the saying, "A place for everything and everything in its place." Well, this is it's email equivalent.
Essentially, the idea is to create Folders via Gmail to place all emails in. I like to leave things I need to reply to or take care of in my inbox and put everything else in its folders.
I currently have...
- Accounts. This is my folder for all my online account information. Whenever I get a confirmation email about an account or anything like that, I put it in this folder so its easily searchable incase I need to remember my username or if I have an account.
- Blog. All things to do with my blog go into this folder, including things I'd like to post about later.
- Funny. All funny emails go here in case of a pick-me-up later down the road.
- Personal. Pretty self-explanatory, huh? I have some cute exchanges between my ex and I. A few happy emails from friends. That kind of thing.
And as I previously mentioned, all emails that require any kind of action - they stay in the inbox until they're handled. This ensures that they will not get lost in the shuffle.
2) Just Unsubscribe.
Everyday, the bulk of my email comes from online stores offering me "Great Deals!" It's definitely one of the hardest things to see while I'm trying to be good and continue my Spending Diet. So, at the beginning of the year, I decided that instead of sending all these emails straight to the Trash - I would take the time and unsubscribe. I don't use them. They're just annoying.
Just find the link at the end of the email and click it. It's usually that simple.
3) Dropbox.
When I was in school, my saving grace was Dropbox. This is a free service that allows you to use their Cloud and save documents, pictures, etc. and you can access them from any computer. Simple, huh? I used to leave my MacBook at home and just carry my Netbook to school and with Dropbox, I had access to all the same files on each device. It was especially helpful with the iPhone App because I could access my files on the go with my iPhone.
4) Create an Email Draft for Recipe Ideas.
I've been doing this for years. When I find a recipe I'm interested in making, I add it to an email draft with all the ingredients there. That way, when I'm at the store, I can easily see what I need to make specific recipes.
And, as a draft, I can easily add and remove different recipes.
This isn't the best way, but so far, it's been the best way for me because what's the one thing I'm always going to have with me? My phone.
Do you have any organizational tips for easier online living? Do you have a way to finally get my Bookmarks simplified? Or a way to reduce the number of tabs I have up (I'm currently at 20)? Let me know in the comments!
Labels: organization, tips