How To Unfuck Your Gmail Inbox

Listen to the audio version. 👆

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You know what really sucks?

Having to apologize to a customer or a lead because you responded weeks after they sent an email because it got lost in the thousands of other emails in your inbox.

It not only sucks because it impacts your business, but it feels embarrassing and makes it look like you either don't care or aren't on top of things.

You can easily clean up and systemize your Gmail inbox so that never happens again.

WHY IT MATTERS:

Your inbox can become an unproductive time warp. Creating a traffic control system in your inbox can help you know where to put your energy first and what can wait.

Instead of mindlessly sifting through your inbox, set it up so you can get in and get out in record time.

WHAT’S NEXT:

• Before Diving Into Your Gmail Inbox

• Clean Up Your Gmail Inbox

• Create Labels To Identify Emails

• Create Your Filters To Direct Traffic

• Creating Multiple Inboxes To Bring Focus

Before Diving Into Your Gmail Inbox

This article specifically covers Gmail. You do not need any of the paid versions of Gmail to complete any of the steps below.

There are both free and paid services available to help manage your inbox.

For example, Unroll.me is free. The potential problem with free services like this is that anytime something doesn’t require you to pay with dollars, you’re likely paying with your information.

Then there are paid services, like Clean Email, which don’t collect your information, but then you’re paying with money.

There’s nothing wrong with either option, it just depends on what you’re comfortable with.

The process I’ll outline below is free and doesn’t require third-party software. With just a little bit of time on your side, you can have an inbox that you don’t dread going into quite as much.

Clean Up Your Gmail Inbox

First things first - you need to clean up your inbox.

There are two types of people I’ve found:

1. Burn it all to the ground and start fresh type people

2. Information hoarding type people

If you know which kind of person you are, jump to that section.

Burn It All Down People

Perhaps one of the bigger struggles for people cleaning up their inboxes is the thought of having to delete emails page by page.

If you have tens of thousands of emails, that would take forever.

Luckily, you can easily delete everything in a few clicks.

You can choose to delete literally everything in your email, just emails in your inbox, or specific labels.

Here’s a video on how to do that:

Information Hoarder People

It can be hard to let go of information that we opted into. You signed up for a newsletter or a freebie for a reason. You saw value in it, and it’s hard to delete it.

I’m going to ask you to be real honest with yourself about whether you’ll really ever be able to get back to it. If not, be prepared to delete it.

If you can’t let it go, then create a label for it to help set it aside.

What I would suggest is to watch the video below to get an idea of the process, but don’t create anything until after you read the next section.

Create Labels To Identify Emails

Isn’t it the worst when you know you got a nice email from a customer but can’t find it anywhere?

Or an email where a customer requested a change in schedule, but they’re arguing with you about the rescheduled date?

With the proper use of labels, you'll know exactly how to find the emails you need quickly.

Most labels you’ll need will fit into these broader categories:

• Action Needed

• Reference & Resources

• Financial

• Growth

• Feedback

• Swipe

• Service/Project Specific

• Status

• For Fun

• By client

You may not need as many label categories as these, but they’re a good place to start considering what you do need.

You may want more specific labels within each of these broader labels. I suggest nesting these labels under the broader labels so they feel less overwhelming in your inbox.

Let’s take a look at some examples.

Action Needed Labels

Action Needed Labels let you know what needs to happen so you know where to focus first, and they also give you an idea of how much effort it may take.

Client Issues	Follow-Up Required	To-Do/Action Needed	Booking/Rescheduling
Client Requests	Content	Supplier/Vendor Communication	Contracts or agreements
Tech Support

Financial Labels

Money is one of the biggest stressors for customers and solopreneurs alike, so having our financial ducks in a row is a must.

Customer Payments	Customer Refunds	Chargebacks/Payment Disputes	Failed Transactions
Taxes	Expenses	Receipts

Status Labels

Status labels can help you easily spot what part of your process a certain email is.

Not Started	Completed	Resolved	Archived
In Progress	Waiting On (Person Name)	Dead End	Pending Approvals/Review Needed

Reference & Resource Labels

If you tend to collect information, create labels to help you better identify what the email is about and why you signed up for it in the first place.

Ideas/Inspiration	Continuing Education	Software/Tool Guides	Templates	Competitor Analysis
PR Mentions	Vendor/Supplier Information	Customer Use Case	Industry Trends and Insights	Google Keyword Mentions

Growth Labels

Labels that help you identify different growth opportunities.

Leads	Opportunities	Networking/Connections	Sponsorships	Referral Sources

Feedback Labels

Labels that help you categorize different feedback you want to keep.

Personal/Client Praise	Constructive Feedback	Client Requests To Consider

Client Labels

Labels to help you identify different clients.

By Client Name	Active Clients	Archived Clients

Your labeling system will grow over time as you identify needs, so don't feel pressured to come up with the perfect setup in one sitting.

Start with a rough framework and create your labels based on what you know now. You can always reorganize them later if necessary.

In the video below, you'll see how to set up your initial labels and how to apply them to emails as you work through them.

Create Your Filters To Direct Traffic

Filters are the air traffic controller of your inbox.

You'll basically tell it, "Hey, emails that fall within these parameters should be handled like this."

The filter feature can do a lot, but there are a few parts in particular that I want to point out as far as organizing your inbox.

The Filter Form

The Filter Form is where you'll set the parameters for your filter.

Just click the filter icon in the search mail bar and it'll open the filter form.

The parameters you'll use most are going to be the following:

• From: The email address that sent the email

• Subject: Words that are in the subject line

  • For example, the name of a form you have clients fill out

• Has the words: If you want to capture emails with specific words or phrases

  • If you want to only capture emails that have a combination of words, you would add AND in between each word you want Gmail to look for.

  • If you want to capture emails that may have one of many words, then you would add OR in between each word you want Gmail to look for

  
  

After you've set your filter's parameters, you can tell Gmail what to do with it.

There are a lot of options, but these are the ones you'll use most often:

1. Skip the Inbox (Archive it)

You'll want to check this box if you don't want an email to stay in your main inbox.

It won't delete the email. When you add a label to it, it'll send it to that label (or folder, if that helps your brain imagine it better.)

If you don't add a label, it'll go to your 'All Mail' folder.

2. Apply the label: Choose label...

This is where you'll choose which label you want to apply to emails like this.

Remember that you can have more than one label. For example, you may have labels for each client that you're working with, but you may also include a label for what that email is about, such as paid invoice or positive feedback.

3. Delete it

This option is a fantastic way to automatically delete unwanted emails.

4. Also apply filter to matching conversations

This handy-dandy button is what makes cleaning up your inbox super fast.

If there are previous emails that match the filter you're creating, you can check this box and it will retroactively apply the filter actions.

BONUS: Send Template: Choose template...

If you've already set up templates like I suggested in the article, Create Flexible Templates For Better Customer Care, you can choose a template to be automatically sent to certain emails.

The article is focused on flexible templates, so you would need to have a standard template to use for this purpose, but it explains the set up.

This would be helpful, for example, if you have clients fill out an intake form and you want to automatically send an email with their next steps.

Create Multiple Inboxes To Bring Focus

Multiple inboxes are a way for you to take your labeling system to the next level.

Your labeling system sits to the side of your inbox, which can cause trouble for important emails if you're an out-of-sight, out-of-mind type person.

That's why creating multiple inboxes is super helpful - it groups together and showcases the emails you need to be aware of most.

You'll need to decide what types of emails need your attention and require action. Then, you'll create multiple inboxes.

Gmail allows you to create up to five additional inboxes. You don't have to use all five, but you have that option.

Here's what an example multiple inbox setup might look like:

• Leads (based on a form that people submit on your website)

• Completed Intake Forms (new clients who have filled out your online form)

• Frustrated Customers (based on keywords like refund, cancel, etc)

• New Mentions (based on Google Keywords searching for your business name)

• Invoices To Pay (based on invoices you receive that you need to pay)

How To Set Up Your Multiple Inboxes

Click the gear icon⚙️, and then under 'Inbox Type', select Multiple Inboxes. Click Customize to define your multiple inboxes.

You'll see a section where you'll define two things:

1. Search Query: This is telling Gmail where to look for the emails

2. Section Name: This is how you want the name of your inbox to show

   
   

The search query section does have a few rules:

1. It always starts with an operator followed by a colon. I use 'is:' by default, but you can see other search operators here.
   

2. Don't use a space after the colon.
   

3. You can't have spaces in the label name that you're referring to. You'll use a dash in place of a space instead.
   

4. If you're referencing a sub-label, you'll use this format: Parent Label/sub-label
   

5. You can use search operators like AND and OR.

   1. For example, if you want emails from active clients and that have paid for certain access to you, then that setup might be - is:active-clients AND is:VIP-clients

When setting up your multiple inboxes, I suggest paying attention to two settings in particular.

1. The number of conversations that show at a time in each multiple inbox

2. Where the multiple inboxes will sit

Choose How Many Emails Show

If you tend to get overwhelmed visually, there's a setting where you can choose how many emails show up at a time in your multiple inboxes. It defaults to showing 9 per multiple inbox, but you can lower it to make your inbox feel less crazy.

The nice thing about the multiple inboxes is that they toggle, so you can collapse an inbox to hide it if you want more emails to show but also get overwhelmed sometimes.

Choose Your Multiple Inbox Placement

You can choose where your multiple inboxes will sit relative to your main inbox. Do you want them to sit to the right, above, or below your main inbox?

If you like a bird's-eye view of your entire inbox, having your multiple inboxes set to the right may help.

If you want to tackle what's most important first with minimal distractions, then set your multiple inboxes above your main inbox.

If you want to work on organizing your inbox more, then setting the multiple inboxes below your main inbox may be the better choice.

The good news is that it's super easy to change, so whatever you choose now, you can adjust later if needed.

Make sure you click save after you're done setting up your multiple inboxes.

Two Organizational Suggestions

To help bring your attention to where you need to go first, there are two things that may help:

1. As you create your multiple inboxes, put them in order of importance. The top is the most important, and the bottom is the least important.
   

2. Use emojis to help direct your eyes where they need to go and to emphasize the topic or importance of that inbox.

You can watch the full walkthrough of setting up your multiple inboxes and using filters in the video below:

What To Do With Your Main Inbox

Think of your main inbox as your halfway house for wayward emails. Since they have nowhere to go, they'll just chill in your main inbox until you decide what to do with them.

After you've handled your most important emails, you can start looking through your main inbox and labeling them so that similar future emails know where to go.

Signed up for a new online course? Create a filter and a new label for it.

Got a receipt for a monthly subscription you meant to unsubscribe from? Add your to-do label to remind yourself to take care of it later.

The more you do this, the smoother your inbox experience will be over time.

THE BIG TAKEAWAY

Your inbox is where a lot of your business takes place. Everything from getting leads, messages from clients, and opportunities you may not want to miss.

By setting up your inbox so it flows and so you know where to direct your attention, you'll feel less anxious about going in and stay more on top of your business.