How to Organise Your Inbox

Your inbox can feel a bit like that one messy kitchen drawer. Full of old receipts, random newsletters, and things you meant to deal with ages ago. If your inbox is the digital version of chaos, you’re not alone.

But it doesn’t have to stay that way. Your inbox is the beating heart of your business, it’s where invoices, new leads, client messages, supplier updates, staff questions, logins, and even opportunities land first. When it’s messy, things slip through the cracks.

Why Your Inbox Is the Heart of Your Business

Your inbox isn’t just email, it’s one of your main command center.

• Invoices and bills that need paying

• Client enquiries and new leads

• Supplier updates, contracts, and paperwork

• Staff messages and handovers

• Logins and sign-ups for systems or tools

• Opportunities, partnerships, collaborations

When you let it get out of hand, you end up drowning in admin instead of focusing on the work you actually love.

6 Practical Steps to Tidy Your Inbox

1. Unsubscribe Like a Pro

If you’re constantly deleting newsletters you never read, unsubscribe! Tools like Unroll me help, or just spend five minutes a day hitting “unsubscribe”.

2. Create Folders

Don’t overcomplicate it. Use simple categories like.

• Action Required

• Waiting On

• Clients / Projects

• Receipts / Finance

• Archived for Reference

Stick to them.

3. Set Up Rules and Filters

Most email platforms let you filter or auto-label messages. For example:

• Auto-label invoices from regular suppliers

• Send newsletters to a “Read Later” folder

• Star anything marked “urgent”

Let your inbox do the legwork for you.

4. Schedule Inbox Time

Set fixed times in your day to check emails. Try 15 minutes morning and afternoon or every other day or even once a week. It's all down to how you work around your schedule, but don't go constantly checking every 5 minutes, constant checking kills productivity and ramps up stress.

5. Use the Two-Minute Rule

If it’ll take less than two minutes, deal with it now. Otherwise flag it to do another day, and add blocked time in your calendar.

6. Weekly Inbox Tidy

End each week with a mini tidy: delete what’s done, archive what’s sorted, label what’s important. You might not hit Inbox Zero, but you’ll have Inbox Calm, and that’s what counts.

Above sounds easy right? Some people just can't do it and don't even bother opening their inbox, or even have the notifications on their Phone!

Want to know how?

They outsource it.

Sometimes the inbox with amount of incoming mail it receive, can be overwhelming for some people and thats fine, but they also know it needs to be sorted and thats where a virtual assistant can help.

If sorting your inbox is still making your eye twitch, don’t worry, we can help.

Inbox Clear-Up Support

• 2 hours of focused inbox clear up

• Filing, flagging, and folder setup

• A system you can actually stick to

• Then monthly inbox management to keep on top of it.

When you’re ready, just Allocate a VA.