I recently had a lovely conversation with Rosemary Counter a journalist with Globe & Mail’s Report on Business Magazine. During the interview, she asked me about email management and how to get your inbox under control. As a result of this interview, the Ask the Experts column printed my advice. Although the article link is entitled, “Would it be wrong to turn our office cafeteria into a no-meat zone?“ based on the first expert listed, my email management advice is towards the bottom of the page.

“I have 5,000 unread emails. How do I get my inbox under control?”

Linda Chu, the founder of Out of Chaos professional organizing solutions, recommends employing the 4-D management principle, but she’s added another D: delete, delegate, do, document—and defer.

“Start simple, with junk mail. Newsletters and flyers can be gone in seconds,” says Chu. Hopefully, that will motivate you to delegate. “Those are emails you don’t necessarily have to deal with. Forward them.” “Do” might seem daunting until you know this: “Half of your emails can be done in two minutes or less.”

As a final point, in the article, I recommended another important task. Everyone should schedule a period of time at the end of every day to sort through their email and get their inbox under control. By doing this, you will be able to plan for the following day and increase your productivity. And, you will never accumulate 5000 emails in your inbox again.

To learn more about email management and the 5Ds, check out Jedi Master of Time Management. You can also read my advice on email best practices and more tips on how to organize your email.

If you would like a personal email management consultation, contact Linda at Out of Chaos.