{"id":225737,"date":"2024-01-16T19:00:09","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T19:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markperlbergcpa.com\/email-inbox-management-for-atlanta-business-owners\/"},"modified":"2024-01-16T19:00:09","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T19:00:09","slug":"email-inbox-management-for-atlanta-business-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prosperlcpa.com\/blog\/2024\/01\/email-inbox-management-for-atlanta-business-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"Email Inbox Management for Atlanta Business Owners"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pme-content\">\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;\">Now that we\u2019re a week into the new year, all of last year\u2019s broken things in your Atlanta biz have likely smacked you in the face a few times. Sadly, they didn\u2019t magically get fixed while you were cleaning up wrapping paper and sneaking another sugar cookie.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;\">But it\u2019s a new year, so why not make plans now to fix a few of those pain points? I\u2019ve seen some pretty good \u2014 and really bad \u2014 new year\u2019s resolutions from business owners over the years. A few of the more useful ones that are worth sharing:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"background-color:white;\">Start (and end) meetings on time.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"background-color:white;\">Encourage your team to use their vacation time (and do the same for yourself).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"background-color:white;\">Invest in your own personal development to grow in a skill you need.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"background-color:white;\">Refresh or outsource your online marketing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"background-color:white;\">Set aside budget to explore time- and money-saving technology.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"background-color:white;\">Look hard at improving your company culture.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"background-color:white;\">Put deadlines on your goals.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"background-color:white;\">Work with your accountant to make realistic financial goals and plans to reach those goals in the coming year.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;\">Set an appointment here for that last one:&nbsp;<\/span><br \/><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/calendly.com\/d\/46r-49m-93k\/10-minute-intro-call\">https:\/\/calendly.com\/d\/46r-49m-93k\/10-minute-intro-call<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;\">And if you\u2019re like me, you\u2019re highly motivated right now to implement better email inbox management, after digging out of your holiday-lagged inbox last week. It\u2019s a new year, and since we\u2019re already talking about resolutions, let\u2019s explore some lesser-known strategies to help you better manage this annoying-but-essential tool of business communication.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;\">Even baby steps here count.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"text-huge\"><strong>Email Inbox Management for Atlanta Business Owners<\/strong><\/span><br \/><span class=\"text-small\"><i>\u201cThe reason I&#8217;ve been able to be so financially successful is my focus has never, ever for one minute been money.\u201d \u2015 Oprah Winfrey<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\">You probably spend more hours per day on email than you think. The 361.6 billion emails sent per day in 2023 (!) means that the average office worker spends 2.5 hours per day answering emails. And since roughly 55 percent of all emails are spam, email inbox management strategies are desperately needed. (Sources: Statista, McKinsey)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\">You know this. You also know you can&#8217;t nix email altogether so let&#8217;s explore some strategies that others aren&#8217;t talking about much.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\"><strong>The Eisenhower Matrix for Email Prioritization<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\">One method for email management is the Eisenhower Matrix, a well-known tool for prioritizing tasks. You might not have considered applying this matrix to help you streamline your email inbox management. And since Gmail offers specific tools to facilitate this approach, I&#8217;m including tips for that platform alongside.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\">This method involves categorizing emails into four quadrants: urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and neither urgent nor important. By sorting your emails into these categories, you can prioritize responses and focus on what truly matters, reducing the time spent on less critical messages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\"><u>Urgent and Important (Quadrant 1)<\/u>: Emails in this category require immediate attention. Use Gmail&#8217;s &#8220;Priority Inbox&#8221; feature to automatically categorize these messages. By setting up filters based on keywords, senders, or specific criteria, you can ensure that crucial emails appear prominently at the top of your inbox.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\">Answer these emails first, and immediately if possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\"><u>Important but Not Urgent (Quadrant 2)<\/u>: These emails should not be buried. Gmail&#8217;s &#8220;Star&#8221; and &#8220;Snooze&#8221; features can be your allies here. Star important emails to mark them for later reference, and snooze less urgent ones to resurface them at a time when you can give them your full attention.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\">Answer these emails on your own schedule, but not right away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\"><u>Urgent but Not Important (Quadrant 3)<\/u>: Too often, we find ourselves caught up in emails that seem pressing but don&#8217;t contribute significantly to our business goals. This is important to address as a business owner. So use Gmail filters to automatically categorize emails from less important sources. This keeps your primary inbox reserved for genuinely urgent matters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\">Answer these emails if you have time, or even better \u2013 delegate them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\"><u>Neither Urgent nor Important (Quadrant 4)<\/u>: Gmail&#8217;s &#8220;Promotions&#8221; and &#8220;Social&#8221; tabs are a built-in solution for these non-essential emails. Just allow Gmail to automatically sort these marketing and social media notifications for you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\">Don\u2019t answer these emails, but you can skim or share them as you have space.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\"><strong>Email Hibernation<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\">Another game-changing method in the world of email inbox management is email hibernation. You&#8217;ve probably heard of this strategy, but I&#8217;m including a few extra practical ideas for its implementation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\">The basic idea is that instead of being constantly tethered to your inbox, you allocate specific time blocks in your day to deal with emails.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\"><u>Set Email Checkpoints<\/u>: Designate two or three specific times during the day when you&#8217;ll check and respond to emails. This could be in the morning, after lunch, and before you wrap up for the day. Not rocket science but highly effective.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\"><u>Enable Notifications at Designated Times<\/u>: Adjust your email notifications to sync with your checkpoints. This way, you&#8217;re only alerted to new messages during your chosen times.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\"><u>Communicate Your Schedule<\/u>: This is a big one for&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"font-family:Georgia, serif;\"><\/span><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\">Fulton County <\/span><span style=\"font-family:Georgia, serif;\"><\/span><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\">business owners. Let your team (and important contacts, if possible) know about your email hibernation schedule, so they can adjust their expectations accordingly. Encourage your staff to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color:white;font-family:Georgia, serif;\">The big win here is that you can focus more on essential tasks and minimize the interruptions that a constantly pinging inbox can bring.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left:0in;\">You can regain control over your inbox and free up time for what truly matters. While my team doesn&#8217;t specialize in communications management per se, we do specialize in helping you navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship and achieve your financial goals. Reach out to talk through your biggest financial challenge right now:<br \/><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/calendly.com\/d\/46r-49m-93k\/10-minute-intro-call\">https:\/\/calendly.com\/d\/46r-49m-93k\/10-minute-intro-call<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left:0in;\">So, which of these email inbox management strategies will you implement this year?<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left:0in;\"><strong>Mark Perlberg<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left:0in;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<style>.pme-content {\n\tfont-size: 1.2em\n}<\/p>\n<p>.text-tiny {\n\tfont-size: .7em\n}<\/p>\n<p>.text-small {\n\tfont-size: .85em\n}<\/p>\n<p>.text-big {\n\tfont-size: 1.4em\n}<\/p>\n<p>.text-huge {\n\tfont-size: 1.8em\n}<\/p>\n<p>.marker-yellow {\n\tbackground-color: #fdfd77\n}<\/p>\n<p>.marker-green {\n\tbackground-color: #63f963\n}<\/p>\n<p>.marker-pink {\n\tbackground-color: #fc7999\n}<\/p>\n<p>.marker-blue {\n\tbackground-color: #72cdfd\n}<\/p>\n<p>.pen-red {\n\tcolor: #e91313\n}<\/p>\n<p>.pen-green,\n.pen-red {\n\tbackground-color: transparent\n}<\/p>\n<p>.pen-green {\n\tcolor: #180\n}<\/p>\n<p>.pme-content blockquote {\n\toverflow: hidden;\n\tpadding-right: 1.5em;\n\tpadding-left: 1.5em;\n\tmargin-left: 0;\n\tfont-style: italic;\n\tborder-left: 5px solid #ccc\n}<\/p>\n<p>.pme-content .image img {\n\tdisplay: block;\n\tmargin: 0 auto;\n\tmax-width: 100%\n}<\/p>\n<p>figure.image {\n    text-align: center;\n}<\/p>\n<p>.pme-content figcaption {\n\tcolor: #333;\n\tbackground-color: #f7f7f7;\n\tpadding: .6em;\n\tfont-size: .75em;\n\toutline-offset: -1px\n}<\/p>\n<p>.pme-content .image-style-align-left {\n\tfloat: left\n}\n.pme-content .image-style-align-right {\n\tfloat: right\n}\n.pme-content .image-style-align-center,\n.pme-content .image-style-align-left,\n.pme-content .image-style-align-right,\n.pme-content .image-style-side {\n\tmax-width: 50%\n}<\/p>\n<p>.pme-content .image {\n\tposition: relative;\n\toverflow: hidden;\n\tclear: both;\n\ttext-align: center\n}<\/style>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now that we\u2019re a week into the new year, all of last year\u2019s broken things in your Atlanta biz have likely smacked you in the face a few times. Sadly, they didn\u2019t magically get fixed while you were cleaning up wrapping paper and sneaking another sugar cookie. But it\u2019s a new year, so why not make plans now to fix a few of those pain points? I\u2019ve seen some pretty&#8230; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/prosperlcpa.com\/blog\/2024\/01\/email-inbox-management-for-atlanta-business-owners\/\">Read More<a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-225737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prosperlcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prosperlcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prosperlcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prosperlcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prosperlcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/prosperlcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225737\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prosperlcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prosperlcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prosperlcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}