My confession: I used to be addicted to email, but now I dread the thought of logging on, reading the message, and (deep breath) responding.

How can this be possible when I, at one time in the not so distant past, loved the advent and ease of use offered by email?

Here are a few not-so-educated-guesses as to why I cringe at the institution of email these days:

• Twitter can along and swept me off my feet. Now, I have an urge to send emails in 140 characters.

• After networking with so many people, I get so much email on a daily basis, I just don’t have time to read it all. Forwards? Delete. Newsletters? Delete.  “Send this letter to 10 friends and you’ll be…” BLACKLISTED BY ME. Reply to all? Grrr…

• Facebook has become email. Many of my closest friends and business contacts are on the site, which has become the new email. Not only do I get to send them a private message, but a also get a glimpse into what their dog ate for dinner. Fun.

Your thoughts on email?

Want G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S? Read the Jet Set Life. Want P-R-A-C-T-I-C-A-L? Diva Mogul is the place to be.

One of the most practical, yet least blogged about subjects: Inbox organization. It’s boring but important because Inbox organization can make or break your daily email routine.

Which category are you?

THE (UN)ORGANIZED INBOX
I’ll come right out and say it: I fall into this category. Yes, I have a couple of thousand emails in my Inbox and a couple hundred are marked as unread. It used to bother me, but I’ve long since moved on in life and don’t care anymore. When I need to find something, I go to the search bar and type in a keyword (or person) to find what I need. There are only a select few I put into folders. Typically, those lucky few include clients, invoices, and anything I might be able to use for tax purposes.

THE ORGANIZED BOX
Someone who maintains an organized Inbox (good for them) spends a few minutes each day or week categorizing, filing, deleting, and flagging emails. They can’t stand unopened email staring them down or more emails than will fit on the first page of their Inbox. These people could never cope with seeing <page 2 of 247> and that’s okay if it suits them.

I could sit here and explain how to organize your Inbox, but it took only a brief glance at my Inbox to realize I’m not the gal for the job. Plus, it has been done before. If you feel like learning more about organizing your Inbox, Google has this great video (they recommend the search bar option as well!):
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=973149761529535925

Remember, the important thing is to find an email organization system that works for you.

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Did you reply to those emails you received today, yesterday, last week? If you haven’t yet replied to emails from last week…you’re in bad shape. You need to get with the program and start a better PR campaign for your business. Not replying to customer inquiries or other important emails in a timely manner reflects negatively on both you and your business.

Admittedly, emails can be very overwhelming. You’re probably involved in various organizations and have contacts all over, so keeping up with the inquiries and information can be a difficult task.

If replying to emails is a problem, it’s time to devise a system that works for you. Maybe you need a half hour at the beginning, middle, and/or end of the day to reply to urgent emails. Make an email date with yourself and reply to all of those people you’ve been ignoring over email. If typing emails is not your thing, perhaps you can follow up with phone calls instead.

Think about ways to can keep your mailbox organized. Would it help to create specific folders for people you correspond with often? I try to read an email, respond, and file it away in that person’s file for future reference. Doing this saves time and time saves money!