That’s a nightmare to deal with and a bit of stress that I could really do without. I think most people are the same and there’s something great about having zero – or close to zero – messages in your inbox. One of the first things I do in the mornings, and I know a lot of people argue against this, is check my e-mails. If I wake up and it’s essentially empty, that is a good start to my day.
The e-mail overload problem for me came in a number of forms. These broke down into:
- Spam
- Tasks that I needed to complete
- Regular e-mails from web sites relating to updates
After almost 10 years in business, I finally decided to get my head down and fix this nagging problem. I really wanted to achieve this magic ‘inbox zero’ that everyone keeps banging on about. Was it really obtainable?
Spam
Spam messages were coming in on two fronts. The first was the regular spam that we all get. This was already dealt with by using an excellent spam filter. I’ve been using SpamExperts for years and I can honestly say that it blocks the vast majority of junk from ever reaching me.
The second area of spam was people using the contact forms on my web sites to send their marketing e-mails. This has been a bit tricker to stop, partly because the spammers are getting more sophisticated but also because I have so many sites. Making a simple change means doing it on quite a few sites and that’s time consuming.
Nonetheless, I stuck with it and adjusted the spam settings on each of the web sites. The contact form spam still isn’t non-existent but it is much, much better.
For WordPress sites, I have been using the formidableforms.com plugin. It’s very easy to use, works with Google Recaptcha but also features its own built-in spam protection tools. I don’t think I’ve received a single spam message once I have installed this plugin.
Tasks that I needed to complete
I have used a help desk system in one form or another ever since I started my business. I cannot over exaggerate how useful this has been for me. It allows me to keep a complete list of jobs that I need to do, in the order that I need to do them, all in one place.
As well as my 17 info@ e-mail addresses for my businesses, I also have a support@ e-mail address for each of them as well. This allows my customers to e-mail the support@ account and then I can work through my jobs as and when they come in. The odd customer will still send requests to the info@ account but I then forward these on the support@ account so the job appears in the list with all of the other outstanding bits that I need to do.
Of course I would occasionally neglect to forward the messages on and this would clog up my inbox. Not only would that bug me as it would move me further away from having zero messages in my inbox, it would also mean that some messages would get lost in the sea of other messages and so I would forget to do the job. The customer would eventually get annoyed which would add to my stress even more.
My inbox is not a to-do list
Now that I have cut down the total number of messages in my inbox, I can clearly see what is in there and I also make sure that I forward any jobs that need to be done to the relevant support@ account. As well as helping keep the number of emails down, it also means that when I log into my help desk system, that shows me a complete list of all the work that I need to do. I don’t have the help desk list and an inbox to worry about, everything is in one place. This also makes planning much easier because if I can see that on Tuesday I don’t have any work to do, I can book the time out and do something else. When jobs were scattered all over the place, I couldn’t really be sure if I was going to be free or not.
Regular e-mails from web sites relating to updates
All of the businesses that I run are online and some of them involve managing other people’s web sites. A lot of these are built on WordPress and one thing that I find a bit frustrating is that every time WP updates itself, it will send an e-mail to the site ‘owner’. As I manage these web sites, every time WP updates, I keep a flurry of messages letting me know that the update has completed.
There are plugins or code that can be added to each site to stop these messages however this would mean that I would need to install this on hundreds of sites – something which I just cannot summon the will to do.
My solution was to install Thunderbird on a separate machine and set up all of my e-mail accounts on there. Within Thunderbird I was able to set up filters which now automatically move messages, based on their subject, sender, content etc. to the ‘Deleted’ folder so that they don’t clog up my inbox.
This machine performs a number of other tasks and is generally left on all day so it works as my own personal assistant, filtering messages and removing them so I never have to see them. I still use my laptop to send e-mails but the other machine sits in my office, constantly battling away in silence to keep my inbox clear.
The additional benefit is that with Thunderbird, you are able to click on the ‘Inbox’ folder at the top of all of your e-mail accounts, this then displays the messages in all of the accounts that you have set up, in one list. Apple Mail does this as well but Thunderbird also shows you the total number of messages, in all of the accounts without having to flick through to each individual inbox. Now that I can see the total number, I know exactly how many messages I have to deal with.
