Keep Your Phone, Email, and Computer Under Control

I obviously can’t speak for other biz chicks out there, but I know that my email inbox gets used a lot on a daily basis. My guess is that keeping your email inbox tidy and organized is something plenty of us deal (and maybe struggle) with. So, here’s my number one way of keeping things organized and under control: I use folders for everything! Because of my online business, I can’t and don’t delete the majority of the emails I get, since I need to save most of them for future reference, etc.

Each one of my clients has their own folder in my inbox. This makes navigating my inbox and finding past emails from certain clients or for certain projects quite easy really, even for clients that I’ve had and corresponded with for several years. I also have folders set up for any online bills and receipts that I receive and for other personal things – such as my barrel racing club whose newsletters I receive.

Tip #1: So, if you find yourself getting overwhelmed by the clutter in your inbox, try setting up as many folders as you need in order to get things under control and then take the time to move your emails to the appropriate folders. It really doesn’t take as long as you might be thinking it will, and it is definitely worth it!

Another area that tends to get cluttered up and disorganized over time is your computer. Whether it be client documents, personal photo collections, or the software you use to run your business, I bet the majority of biz chicks’ computers tend to get pretty cluttered pretty fast. Here are two ways that I use to keep my computer from becoming disorganized and bogged down with all the documents and software that I can’t delete.

Tip #1: Backing up my computer regularly. Having an uncluttered, well-performing computer is well worth the cost of investing in a good external hard drive. See my previous post on backing up your computer and other general computer maintenance tips for more information.

Tip #2: Again, I use folders! And subfolders! By keeping the documents and photos, etc., that you can’t back up to the external hard drive and then delete, in their own folders and subfolders on your computer, you will find it fairly easy to navigate and find what you need when you need it and your computer will look and be neat and organized.

I don’t think I’m as prone to overuse of apps on my phone as some people are, but even so, I’ve noticed that my phone tends to start “filling up” with various apps over time. Some of them I may have used only once! Or they may be a game that I played for a while but then got tired of. So, one of the things that I try to do every so often is to go through and uninstall any apps that I never use from my phone. I also go through and delete photos, text messages, emails, and anything else that has been there for a long time but I no longer need or want.

Those are my tips for keeping your phone, computer and email under control. I would love to hear your thoughts and your methods of doing so. Leave a comment and let us know.