Inbox Overload Is Costing You a Day a Week. Here’s How to Fix It
Chances are, you have been to a beach and felt that instant disappointment of seeing the water thick with brown vegetation. You wanted to swim, but you just could not bring yourself to step in.
That is a pretty good way to describe most people’s inbox. We want to get to the important work, the clear water, but we are so repelled by the weeds of spam, newsletters, and clutter rubbing against our attention that we do not want to dive in and look.
✉️ A quick note
I love writing these and I hope my emails still earn a spot in your inbox. But let’s be real, the noise is brutal. Even good stuff gets buried with the junk.
📌 The Tuesday Zoom that derailed
I had a 30 minute Zoom call with a client 2 weeks ago, and we did not get to the agenda because we spent the entire time searching his inbox for the emails I sent that got lost in the pile.
He did not say it out loud, but I could see it on his face: “Enough is enough.”
We solved this for him, and we will solve it for you too.
As always, I have your back.
🔍 What happened (and I bet this happens to you too)
We jump on Zoom to chat about two new hires.
It is clear he does not know what I am talking about because he missed my previous emails.
He opens Outlook to track down my messages. Mentions a promo he wants to read later. Then another.
Then a third. The onboarding details are buried.
We burn the full half hour chasing lost threads and book a second call.
Work gets delayed and becomes an emergency.
😵 You know this feeling
Your inbox holds action, do it later, and interesting to look at content in the same pile.
You like seeing some promos. But you do not need them ringing the same bell every minute they land.
Every ding taxes your focus. Minutes to switch. Minutes to recover. The day evaporates.
🧳 Why it keeps happening
Emails get stacked for later, then new deliveries land on top. Approvals, POs, critical shipping updates, failed invoice payments.
All mixed with promos and webinars you might want to read about on a slow Friday that never comes.
⏱️ The math
If you clean up your inbox, you spend an average of 5 hours a week on this.
If you peek every time it dings, the focus tax doubles it. Call it 10 hours. That is one full day a week. Fifty two days a year.
Two months of your year, gone to the doorbell.
🔕 First step
If you can swing it I know it is a tough ask, but if you can manage it, turn off email notifications wherever you can. Outlook. Smartphone. You name it.
Set a time and frequency to check your inbox on purpose. Do not chase dings all day.
If you are thinking, “That is the secret sauce? That will not fly. I am going to stop reading now,” take a deep breath. We got this. There is more.
🚦 Reduce the flow hitting your inbox
Here are two options.
Do one or both. Whatever you do, take action now. Preserve your focus and win back that day you lose to the dings every week.
Option 1: Marketing Block (for our clients) Best for when you want the noise filtered before it reaches the inbox and you do not want the team to fiddle with settings.
What it does: Routes marketing emails and promos into a dedicated folder so they do not trigger notifications. You can look at them at your convenience.
Invisible protection: No app to install. No password to remember. No settings to tweak.
Set it and forget it: Recognizes bulk mailing lists and keeps them out of your way, which saves hours of distraction across the team.
Next steps:
If you are a client and want this, just reach out. We will flip the switch for your team.
If you are not a client, your IT partner might offer something similar. Just ask. As one of my favorite sayings goes, “I would not be mad if the answer is no, but I might be mad if I never asked.”
Option 2: Clean Email (personal inbox cleaner) Very well rated service that integrates with your email to do cleanup under your supervision. It takes a bit of handling, but it provides long term relief.
Bulk unsubscribe power: See every newsletter you are on and cancel in one click.
Smart read later piles: Bundles receipts, social alerts, and news into a folder you check on your schedule.
Clean up the past: Organize, archive, or delete thousands of old emails by age or sender.
Privacy first: It is a paid product so the software is the product, not your personal information.
Next steps:
If you are a client of ours, please reach out first. We do not want you to take this on and manage it yourself. That is our job.
If you have an IT partner, consult with them before signing up.
If neither applies to you, start with their free trial and see how it works for you.
🚫 The anti pitch (read this before you take action)
This will not delete all noise. You will still scan the Marketing folder twice a day.
Week one is a little messy while the rules learn. Week two is when the room goes quiet.
If you want a magic wand or hate small process changes, this is not for you.
Vision:
Your inbox is your trained personal assistant filtering the noise.
Client requests land where you see them.
Promos wait in the side room until you decide to look.
Tuesday calls run on time. New hires start on time. You get your focus back.
If you do nothing:
Another day a week lost to cleanup and lost focus.
Reschedules, lost updates, and late submittals.
A slow drip of trust from clients and your own team.
👉 Quick pulse check Reply with a number from 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst your inbox has ever been.
I will go first. I am at about 6 at the moment.