Inbox zero tips for creative business owners
It’s impossible to see the light at the end of your email inbox tunnel?
Inbox zero, no matter how elusive that might sound, is actually not that complicated, and we’re a living proof for achieving it. Keep reading to learn our best tips & practices to tame your out-of-control inbox and make thousands of unread email notifications a thing of the past 👇
As a creative professional, your inbox may quickly become a stress inducing factor in your day to day. It doesn’t have to be this way, and if we can help you get your inbox sorted once and for all + teach you a couple email organizing & inbox productivity tricks - we consider that a win in our book!
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① Don’t mix your personal and business emails 🙅♀️
Let’s start with the basics : all personal correspondence, personal bills, personal shopping, personal newsletters and whatnot should be done from an email that is NOT your business email. Assuming you already have your business email setup and all of your creative operations are done from that email address, resist the occasional urge of popping in your biz email when you're checking out online for personal shopping or signing up for horoscope email blasts. This will create a well needed separation between navigating your personal life and building your creative empire, and ease the burden of sorting through gazillion of newsletters that come from businesses you interact with.
② Labels for everything 🏷️
Create and utilize labels for everything you got going in your business:
client projects
client inquiries
accounting
bookkeeping, bank statements and receipts
rent and utility bills
travel
partnerships
outsourced tasks
hiring applications
Use label color option to create a pleasant and on-brand looking inbox.
Create an organized label structure that makes sense for your particular business - for example, label “Accounting” with sublabels for “CPA", “IRS”, “FTB”, “Secretary of State” etc, or label “Clients” with sublabels named after each client of yours. This will make it extremely easy to find information you need when you need it, and keep everything neatly organized (high five to our fellow OCD creativepreneurs ✋)
③ Set up a schedule ⏲️
Set aside specific times during the day to check and respond to your emails. This will help you focus on other important tasks in your biz and avoid the constant email distraction. Oly has a different schedule for different days - on production days she typically does a quick inbox scan in the morning to answer any urgent email and quickly label everything else, another quick check mid-day from the Gmail app (only responding to quick emails) and then a blocked off 40min to one hour at the end of the work day to respond to everything that’s accumulated during the day and send progress updates to clients. On non-production days of course Oly’s time spent inside the inbox is much more significant, and that’s when most of the business operations and client communication happens. Good thing she’s a fast typer.
④ Canned responses 🥫
This is a big time saver and inbox productivity booster! Draft answers to your FAQ, your most common responses, your client progress updates and whatever else you frequently type out into the world. To do so follow the steps (these steps apply to Gmail in your web browser):
First, you need to enable Templates:
Go to ⚙️ Settings in the top right corner -> See all settings -> Advanced -> Templates -> Choose Enable -> Save changes.
Next, create a new Canned Response:
Compose a new message -> Type in the desired text for your Template -> Click on the tree dot (More Options) icon in the bottom right corner -> Choose Templates -> Save draft as template -> Save as new template -> Enter a new template name -> Save.
You can create as many separate Templates for all of your business needs as you desire.
To quickly insert a Canned Response:
Hit Reply on the email that needs your response or start a New Message -> Click on the tree dot (More Options) icon at the bottom section -> Templates -> Pick the right template you need.
Ain’t that neat?!
⑤ Use delete button liberally 🗑️
Smack the spam with the delete or archive button without hesitation. We don't have time for that. That email blast from a coffee shop you met with your team a year ago and you don’t go there anymore because they switched from Oatly to another oat milk brand you despise (a very sad real life story) - it’s time for it to meet it’s creator 🚮. We know, that might sound harsh (blame that on that oat milk brand that shall remain nameless). But seriously speaking, if an email is no longer relevant or useful, it's time to let it go. This will help keep your inbox organized and avoid email clutter.
PRO Tip: one of Oly’s personal tricks is to delete all unwanted emails early in the day (while she preps her morning ☕) straight from the Gmail app on the phone - you can select a big chunk of emails you want to archive with a quick finger slide that takes literally just a few seconds and erase them from the surface of your inbox.
⑥ Unsubscribe 👋
Another helpful tip to ease the inbox overload is to go on an unsubscribe spree (inbox detox, if you will) - that requires a couple clicks per unwanted email as you will be prompted to confirm your desire to leave in a pop up window, but if you have a moment to spare - go for it! (Please note, we hope you never do this to the emails you receive from Knotably Creative House🤞)
⑦ Phone📱 VS Desktop 🖥️
Some emails require quick response and some a more detailed approach. Getting comfortable with responding straight from your phone will help tackle your email load faster and increase productivity. If you happen to open an email from your Gmail app on the phone and it appears to be the kind that you need to come back to later from your desktop (include some links, attachments or you just need some time to think it through) - mark as at unread! This will help you not forget about important emails, as generally speaking your main focus should on be new, unread emails.
⑧ Archive 🗄️
If you’ve read an email and responded to it or took action on it, there is absolutely no reason for it to hang in your inbox. That’s exactly what INBOX ZERO means. Go ahead, label and archive it. Everything you need to get back to later (which should be mainly your client correspondence as you move through the project stages) you can access either through it’s dedicated label or through the search bar at the top 🔍. If you have emails hanging in your inbox that are left without response (i.e. client inquiries from a week ago that could have been answered with a Canned Response / bills that are not paid / random receipts that are not labeled and archived / newsletters that you have no interest in) - you’re doing something wrong.
⑨ Filters 📇
Utilize Gmail built-in functionality and play around with seting up filters and rules to automatically sort and categorize your incoming emails. This way, you can quickly and easily focus on the most important emails first. This is a great email management technique that might be just what your inbox zero system needs. For example, you can automatically ⭐ certain emails (like new client inquiries, or contracts) to make them priority. Or you can even set up a filter to respond with you Canned Response automatically - boom, inbox zero PRO level unlocked!💥
⑩ Shortcuts ⌨️
Finishing our list with the inbox zero heavy hitter - Gmail Shortcuts! Using keyboard shortcuts to format text, compose new messages, insert links, forward + many other actions will skyrocket your email productivity! Learn more about using Gmail Shortcuts here.