{"id":44348,"date":"2020-10-01T18:13:37","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T18:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"\/us\/en\/blog\/?p=44348"},"modified":"2025-03-13T06:23:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T13:23:46","slug":"email-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/us\/en\/blog\/email-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Email management: 7 tips to stop getting distracted by notifications"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re reading this, then your email inbox probably doesn\u2019t sit at zero.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ve also probably been on the receiving end of too many emails, some of which are useful, many of which though could\u2019ve been avoided altogether by a quick call, text, or instant message.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You find yourself getting distracted every time a notification pops up on your screen and on your phone letting you know there\u2019s an unread message waiting for you on the other side. It disturbs your focus and grabs your attention\u2014whether you like it or not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You decide it can\u2019t hurt to just glance at who\u2019s writing to you. The glance turns into a full-on email session. Next thing you know, you\u2019ve spent an hour catching up on a bunch of other unread messages and know you\u2019re late for your meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How did we get here?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Better yet, how can we not?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everyone has a different reason for wanting to manage their emails better, that\u2019s why we\u2019ve come up with a list of seven different ways you can better tackle your inbox depending on what you hope to achieve out of it. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Skip ahead below to find answers to these common questions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"#receive\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to receive fewer emails<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"#organize\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to organize your inbox to find what you need, quickly<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"#rabbit\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to not go into an email-responding rabbithole\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"#how\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to respond to emails more quickly<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But first, let&#8217;s look at the basics of managing your inbox.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\ud83d\udce5 <\/span>Are you over email? If you hit at least one of the points on our checklist, it&#8217;s time to consider an email alternative.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\n<div class=\"download-form-widget standart-download-form\" data-url=\"https:\/\/netstorage.ringcentral.com\/checklist\/ready_to_retire_email.pdf\" data-id=\"69d1042842178\" id=\"69d1042842178\">\n\t\t<button tabindex=\"on\"  on=\"tap:69d1042842178.toggleClass(class='open')\" class=\"open-modal-download-action download-form-button\" type=\"submit\">\u2705  Get the checklist to find out<\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"download-form-modal\">\n<div class=\"download-form-modal-body\">\n<div class=\"download-form-modal-content\">\n<div class=\"download-form-modal-title\">\ud83d\udc40 \u200a Get this free checklist to evaluate if if you're ready to retire email (and try something different). <\/div>\n<form class=\"download-form SMB\" method=\"post\">\n<div class=\"download-form-part\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input class=\"download-form-input\" aria-label=\"Full Name\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" type=\"text\" name=\"fullname\" placeholder=\"Full Name\" data-dl-events-hover=\"true\" data-dl-element=\"text\" data-dl-additional-info=\"download form\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"download-form-part\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input class=\"download-form-input\" aria-label=\"Email (please enter a work email address)\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" type=\"email\" autocomplete=\"on\" name=\"email\" placeholder=\"Email (please enter a work email address)\" data-dl-events-hover=\"true\" data-dl-element=\"email\" data-dl-additional-info=\"download form\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"popup_form\" value=\"1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"Lead_Entry_Source__c\" value=\"RC Blog\" class=\"download-form-input\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"download-form-part\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"download-form-submit\" type=\"submit\" data-dl-element=\"button\" data-no-auto-dl=\"true\" data-dl-additional-info=\"download form\" data-dl-name=\"Get it now\">Get it now<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<button on=\"tap:69d1042842178.toggleClass(class='open')\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\"  class=\"download-form-modal-close\"><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"download-form-modal-thank\">Enjoy! <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email inbox management: what is it?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Good email management involves more than just keeping a low unread count (although, that always helps with keeping stress levels down).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your inbox is a collection of critical pieces of information that might become important references over time. Managing your inbox well also involves being able to navigate, sort, and easily find messages without breaking a sweat. It\u2019s like having a well-organized digital filing cabinet but without feeling like a hoarder (which means you\u2019re not receiving junk, or worse\u2014saving it).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But if you do happen to get more emails than you can handle (owner of a small business, perhaps?), then finding a way to prioritize your attention to deal with urgent matters first is also part of the inbox management game.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are the benefits of managing your inbox?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Managing the emails in your inbox is actually much more of a science than an art in that there are very practical steps you can take to get to Inbox Zero (aka to reach and maintain zero unread emails) or not get fussed over finding what you need, quick.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0But before we shed some light on what these are, it helps to know why the effort is worth the reward.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Stop missing tasks:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Sometimes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/email-communication\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">email communications<\/a> contain action items or the need for follow up. Managing your inbox means you never have to miss or forget emails where action is required.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Quicker responses:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Separating priority messages from \u201cnice-to-reads\u201d means you can spend time where it matters most.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Receive only what you need: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not all communication needs to take place by email\u2014sometimes a quick text or message does the job much more effectively and in even less time.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Save your storage space:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Ever been in the position of attaching and downloading large email attachment files? Not only does it take time, but it takes up space! If you\u2019re a Gmail user with only 15GB of storage across your email, Drive, and Photos, you\u2019ll especially want to save where you can.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"tip\">\n<div class=\"tip-heading\"><b>\ud83d\udca1 Pro-tip:\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n<p>What about when email isn&#8217;t the best communication channel? Here are the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/email-alternatives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">most useful email alternatives<\/a> that you&#8217;ll probably need to use from time to time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ways to better manage your email and inbox<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a id=\"receive\"><\/a><br \/>\nHow to receive fewer emails altogether<\/span><\/h3>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. Try instant messaging, text, video, or voice calls instead<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One way to stop cluttering your inbox is to control the number of emails you receive. Not only does it free up your inbox because you&#8217;re not dumping everything into emails, it also allows you to get answers more quickly:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-43764\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/communication-strategy-comparison.png\" alt=\"communication strategy comparison\" width=\"930\" height=\"700\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you work in a team environment, emails aren\u2019t always the best or quickest way to get someone\u2019s attention. For active collaboration on projects, you might consider the use of group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/instant-messaging-programs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">instant messaging chats<\/a> instead to facilitate the back-and-forth sharing of ideas:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-43076\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Message-on-desktop-phone-1024x561.png\" alt=\"messaging in ringcentral app\" width=\"1024\" height=\"561\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For longer conversations that might benefit from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/mobile-screen-sharing-app\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">screen sharing<\/a> to get the point across more conveniently, video conferencing is your friend. (And don&#8217;t forget about good old phone calls.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/communication-tools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">communications platform<\/a> (like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/rcapp.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RingCentral<\/span><\/a>!)<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> gives you the option to connect with your peers through real-time text, video, voice, or messaging\u2014all from one place:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"rc_custom_video\"><a class=\"rc_custom_video__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtu.be\/EbIAZJd9rCU\">\n\t\t            <picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi_webp\/EbIAZJd9rCU\/maxresdefault.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rc_custom_video__media\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/EbIAZJd9rCU\/maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t            <\/picture>\n\t\t        <\/a><br \/>\n\t\t        <button class=\"rc_custom_video__button\" aria-label=\"Play video\"><svg width=\"68\" height=\"48\" viewBox=\"0 0 68 48\"><path class=\"rc_custom_video__button-shape\" d=\"M66.52,7.74c-0.78-2.93-2.49-5.41-5.42-6.19C55.79,.13,34,0,34,0S12.21,.13,6.9,1.55 C3.97,2.33,2.27,4.81,1.48,7.74C0.06,13.05,0,24,0,24s0.06,10.95,1.48,16.26c0.78,2.93,2.49,5.41,5.42,6.19 C12.21,47.87,34,48,34,48s21.79-0.13,27.1-1.55c2.93-0.78,4.64-3.26,5.42-6.19C67.94,34.95,68,24,68,24S67.94,13.05,66.52,7.74z\"><\/path><path class=\"rc_custom_video__button-icon\" d=\"M 45,24 27,14 27,34\"><\/path><\/svg><br \/>\n\t\t        <\/button>\n\t\t    <\/div>\n<p>In fact, since it has file sharing built in, you can upload and share documents right in the conversation without losing them in days (or weeks)-old email threads&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-43590\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/file-sharing-integrations-with-dropbox-and-box.gif\" alt=\"file sharing in RingCentral's cloud collaboration solution\" width=\"800\" height=\"699\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leave the use of emails for when it\u2019s needed most. You know, like for written confirmations, invites, short information exchanges, or to document decisions that were made (like a meeting summary for instance).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\ud83d\udd79\ufe0f<\/span> Get a hands-on look at how RingCentral works by booking a product tour:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><button data-href=\"#leadform-popup\" class=\"js-open-popup-activator btn primary\" >Choose a time<\/button><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Don\u2019t hesitate to hit unsubscribe\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unsubscribing from spam or promotional emails is an obvious tip, but in a work context, also consider what distribution lists you wouldn\u2019t be missed from.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Changed teams, switched roles, or on a new project? You likely don\u2019t need to be part of that weekly report that gets distributed out to all your old project partners. Contact the email sender and kindly let them know you no longer need to be part of their recipient list until further notice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"tip\">\n<div class=\"tip-heading\"><b>\ud83d\udca1 Pro-tip:\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n<p>Work-life separation is key to maintaining focus! If you do have newsletters or businesses you subscribe to and enjoy hearing from, consider shifting them over to your personal email so that you can keep your work email\u2014well, for work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a id=\"organize\"><\/a><br \/>\nHow to organize your inbox to find what you need, quickly<\/span><\/h3>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Create a folder-sorting system<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every time you get a new email, you should determine how you want to handle it, and then physically sort it in that way within your inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In most everyday scenarios, these four ways of handling incoming emails should have you covered:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>High priority:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Emails that need to be tended to ASAP or when you return.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Action required:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Emails that require follow-up or have a task attached to it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Waiting for response:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Emails that you are waiting to hear back on.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Archived:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Emails that don\u2019t require your attention, but aren\u2019t to be deleted.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For each of these, create a folder so that when you go through a long list of unread messages, you can sort them accordingly and attend to them based on their priority statuses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Use filters to automatically sort new emails<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Within Gmail, you can use <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Filters<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to create rules that can automatically sort and tag unread messages in your inbox to save you the trouble of categorizing them manually.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can create <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">filters<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">based on keywords, size, dates, or email addresses:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-44351\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/creating-email-filters-1024x626.png\" alt=\"creating email filters\" width=\"1024\" height=\"626\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the criteria in place, you can then set up automatic rules for four important actions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Autodelete: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Automatically delete emails that regularly pass through your spam folder by creating a filter for spam-related email addresses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Move emails into their rightful folders: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organize emails that you anticipate to receive on a regular basis (such as weekly reports that you want to automatically move into your Sales Updates folder) or emails that you want to sort into their rightful project or teams folder.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Delete messages from the spam folder: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Automatically delete your spam folder every so often without needing to be reminded. This is particularly useful if you battle with limited storage space.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Set to-do labels<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Automatically assign to-do labels for emails that you have to take action on. Before creating this filter, make sure you have a \u201cTo-Do\u201d label set up (pro-tip: consider setting up labels to further delineate between To Do items for the day, versus the week):<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-44352\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/to-do-labels-in-email-inbox-1024x315.png\" alt=\"to-do labels in email inbox\" width=\"1024\" height=\"315\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a id=\"rabbit\"><\/a><br \/>\nHow to not go into an email-responding rabbithole\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Create a team inbox <\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re working collaboratively on a team project, you might be getting emails sent to you, but intended for someone else.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of reading and responding to every message, you can create a shared inbox so that everyone is able to focus on their own tasks. Another benefit of a shared inbox is that you don\u2019t have to worry about handovers when a team member leaves the business since all communications are automatically archived and retrievable by those who have access.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"tip\">\n<div class=\"tip-heading\"><b>\ud83d\udca1 Pro-tip:\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n<p>Shared inboxes can be difficult to manage, especially when you have large teams all communicating under a single point of contact. That\u2019s why having a team email management tool, like Help Scout, lets you organize incoming emails with tags (to categorize emails by topic or type of issue) as well as by assignments (to assign conversations to users, which they can then manage in their \u201cMine\u201d folder).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6. Hit \u201cSnooze\u201d and come back\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ever try turning your inbox into a to-do list? If you\u2019re a Gmail or Outlook user, you can <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Snooze<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> less important emails to come back to them at a later time:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-44353\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/snoozing-emails-in-gmail-1024x497.png\" alt=\"snoozing emails in gmail\" width=\"1024\" height=\"497\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doing so removes them from your line of sight (one less distraction!) until you actually need to take action on them. Having emails resurface only when you need to think about them puts you in control of managing your tasks in an order that makes sense for your workday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/remote-work-playbook.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-42323\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/remote-work-playbook.png\" alt=\"remote-work-playbook\" width=\"1024\" height=\"364\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a id=\"how\"><\/a><br \/>\nHow to respond to emails more quickly<\/span><\/h3>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">7. Conserve brainpower, use auto-complete<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Gmail\u2019s new auto-completion tool, you can turn on Smart Reply and Smart Compose to save time when composing emails.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Personalized based on the way you typically communicate (maybe you\u2019re more of a \u201cHey!\u201d person versus a \u201cHello\u201d one), Smart Compose can suggest words that might fit the sentence you\u2019re writing. A light-colored set of text will appear next to your cursor, and you can hit <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tab <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to accept the suggestion:\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-44349\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/suggestions-in-email-draft.gif\" alt=\"suggestions in email draft\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For emails that don\u2019t require a ton of personalization, Smart Reply can provide instant suggestions of brief responses to send back:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-44350\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/smart-reply-in-gmail.png\" alt=\"smart reply in gmail\" width=\"982\" height=\"404\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get things done faster with better inbox management habits<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the possibility of Inbox Zero might not be realistic all the time, that\u2019s not to say there aren\u2019t better ways to manage your emails to achieve more in less.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To avoid getting lost in an email-responding rabbithole, start trying to be more mindful of your email management habits. Rather than just responding to every request or filing each and every single email away, ask yourself:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>What\u2019s the importance of this email, how does it matter to me?\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It requires my attention -&gt; I need to dedicate time to it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It doesn\u2019t require my attention -&gt; I will let someone else respond or delegate to another individual.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>How urgent do I need to respond to this email?<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a priority item -&gt; I will tag is as urgent and respond as soon as I get an opportunity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is not a priority item -&gt; I will create a task to respond to it at a later time.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Is there a task or action associated with this email?<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is an ask of me -&gt; I will add it to my to-do list and tag it as such.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This isn\u2019t an ask of me -&gt; I will file it away into its rightful folder or into archives.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Navigating a crowded inbox in the middle of a busy project or while trying to meet deadlines isn\u2019t exactly an ideal time to take on a new task. That\u2019s why we recommend setting aside an hour to set up your inbox preferences in a way that can suit your needs more suitability for the long term.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re reading this, then your email inbox probably doesn\u2019t sit at zero.\u00a0 You\u2019ve also probably been on the receiving end of too many emails, some of which are useful, many of which though could\u2019ve been avoided altogether by a quick call, text, or instant message. You find yourself getting distracted every time a notification &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":43814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17901],"tags":[667,8461,8470],"class_list":["post-44348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-leadership","tag-email","tag-email-management","tag-email-tips"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.3 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Email management: 7 tips to stop getting distracted by notifications | RingCentral Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ah, email management. A basic skill that you need for work that&#039;s also surprisingly difficult to master. Want to get to inbox zero? 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