Time to put this Inbox on a diet. :) Not me...the Inbox. I don't like that evil word, diet. When I hear it, I want to rush out and buy a big, fudge sundae piled high with whipped topping. And chocolate syrup. And nuts. One extra-large sundae, please. Uh, where was I?
I think we were talking about my over-blown, out-of-control Inbox before my fudge sundae fantasy took over. I am determined to whip (no pun intended) this Inbox back into shape. Just as putting on unwanted pounds doesn't happen over night, 4,560 e-mails didn't happen overnight, either. It took my Inbox 2 years and 9 months to get this bloated. Just as taking off unwanted pounds doesn't happen in a day, I know it will take a little while to whittle this bad boy back down to size.
If you use Gmail and your Inbox runneth over, too, you may find the following information helpful. If you do not use Gmail or have a skinnier Inbox, you may not need this post. Feel free to forward it to someone who does.
While I was reading through e-mails today, I realized one of the problems that's gotten me into my Inbox pickle, are all the subscription e-mails I receive and love. :) For example, there are a number of blogs I prefer to read via e-mail as opposed to a reader. I also, subscribe to Groupon and Scoutmob. And, I subscribe to coupons from certain stores I occasionally frequent, like Hobby Lobby. Those are just a few of the e-mails that arrive in my Gmail Inbox on a weekly or even daily basis.
Hobby Lobby is going to serve as our example for today. It's a great one to use because it's one of those e-mails that shows up weekly in my Inbox, doesn't get deleted right away and eventually contributes to filing it up. Yep, I know you can go to their site and print a coupon before you go shopping, but it's easier for me if it just comes to me each week, that is if I can find a good way to stay organized so I'm controlling it and it isn't controlling me. :)
How to Manage Recurring e-Mails:
So, the question is, how to deal with those e-mails that appear automatically on a daily or weekly basis in your Inbox, emails that don't need your immediate attention but are important to keep in case you need them later. You could just "archive" them which removes them from you Inbox and stores them in what Gmail calls "All Mail." But then if you need them again, you'll have to conduct a "search" which can sometimes be a daunting task. I wanted to "archive" certain e-mails (like Hobby Lobby) but I wanted to be able to easily find them again when needed.
Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: Getting Organized
I did a little research and discovered a couple of things you can do with Gmail to help stay a bit more in control. I thought I'd share them with you today, just in case you have a run-a-way Inbox on your hands, too.
Gmail doesn't really have "folders" to organize and group the e-mails you wish to save. Instead, they have something called "labels." Labels act very much like folders, but they can do a lot more than folders, so Gmail has chosen to call them labels. When you see the word label(s) in this post, just think folder(s) and it will make more sense. OK? OK.
E-mail Butler: Couldn't We All Use One of Those?
I've been using labels/folders for a while, dragging e-mails into particular labels to save them when I thought I might need to refer back to them some day. But what I really wanted was for those e-mails to automatically go into their label/folder upon arrival, with zero help from me. That way they wouldn't fill up my Inbox, pushing important emails further down and out of sight. Instead, they would be filed away, nice and organized, just waiting for me in their label/folder for when I was ready to check them out on my own schedule. Now, we're talking!
Our Example: Hobby Lobby
Let's use the Hobby Lobby e-mail I receive each week as our example.
Goal: To have the Hobby Lobby e-mail automatically go into a label/folder each week upon arrival, instead of landing in my Inbox where I would have to physically see it and put it into a folder. When I needed an HL coupon, I would be able to open that particular label/folder and the latest, shiny HL coupon would be there waiting for me. :)
HERE'S HOW: A Tutorial
Gmail calls this process of removing an e-mail from your inbox and saving it for later use, "Archiving." Here's how you can have Gmail archive e-mails automatically so they will be saved to a label/folder for future reference when needed:
First you'll want to create a folder (again, Gmail calls them labels) where your e-mails will be stored for future access. In this case, the e-mail we wish to have automatically stored when it arrives is the Hobby Lobby e-mail; so let's create a folder for it. That way, we'll know where to find it when we need it.
Click on "Create a filter" at the top of your Gmail page.
You'll get a page that looks like this. In the "From" box, type in the name of where your e-mail is coming from. This info needs to exactly match the "from" name of the e-mail so type it in just as it is named when it's in your Inbox. For example, I wouldn't type in "HL" because when this e-mail arrives in my Inbox, the from is always "Hobby Lobby," not HL.
Then click, "Next Step." (There are other ways to make folder/labels, but this is a quick way to get all the existing e-mails in your Inbox filed into/under your new folder/label.)
The next screen should look like this one below. Notice it says (Hobby Lobby) in parentheses there at the top and all the Hobby Lobby e-mails that were in my Inbox are all listed below...all 16 of them. At this point, we just want to get them all organized under a particular label so they can be found later. We'll worry about automatic archiving in a sec.
So, next you'll click in the box beside, "Apply the label." Go ahead and click that little box beside, "Also, apply filter to 16 conversations below, too." That way the label will be applied to all the HL e-mails already in your Inbox. Then, click on the drop down arrow beside "Choose label" and select "New label" from the options available.
Give your new label/folder a name. You can name it whatever you like. In this case I called it "Hobby Lobby." Then click, "Create."
(At first I forgot to click the little box that says "Also, apply filter to 16 conversations below." So, I checked that and clicked on "Create filter" a second time and it worked. They were all labeled.)
Next you should see a screen (like this one below) with a little message like the one I have circled. You'll know your messages were labeled or filed under your new Hobby Lobby label/folder when you see that little message.
Take a look at this screen below. See how all the Hobby Lobby e-mails are labeled "Hobby Lobby" in green? Success!
Make G-mail Work For You! Archive Automatically!
Now, let's set up the automatic archive filter. It's so easy. Here's all you need to do to have Gmail automatically store the Hobby Lobby e-mails into the new label/folder as they arrive, instead of having them camping out in your Inbox taking up space and your valuable time and attention.
Once again, click on "Create a filter" at the top of your Gmail.
You can filter messages by a variety of parameters. Again, I chose to use the "From" parameter, which in this case is, Hobby Lobby. That seemed to be the easiest way to identify the HL e-mails as they come in. Then, click "Next Step."
Click on "Skip the Inbox (Archive it)." Also, check the box beside, "Also, apply filter to 16 conversations below." I don't know if that's really necessary, but I did it anyway. :)
Of course, depending on what you are archiving, you will most likely have a different number than 16. That's just how many HL e-mails I had in my Inbox. Now truthfully, I'll be deleting most of those because the coupons will have all expired, but it worked well as an example e-mail for this tutorial.
Then Click "Create filter."
Shortcut: Save a few steps
If you like, right after the step where you've created the label and the little message is showing that says your label was created, you can check the box that says, "Skip the Inbox (Archive it) and click "Create Filter" and that will create the Archive Filter/Action, as well. That saves you a step or two. Don't forget to check the "Also apply filter to X conversations below" box, so it will grab those conversations and archive them for you, too.
You're Done:
You'll find all your HL e-mails in a folder called "Hobby Lobby" on the left column of your Gmail account/page. And all future Hobby Lobby e-mails will automatically go into that folder.
The really cool thing is when a new HL e-mail arrives, the name of the folder turns BOLD. This lets you know at a glance a new e-mail has arrived and has been filed under your HL label. Excellent!
See All Your Filters:
If you'd like to see all the filters you've created, click on the blue asterisk at the top right corner and select "Mail Settings." Across the top you'll see the header, "Filters." Click on that header and all the filters you've created will appear on that page.
Additional Uses for Filters: Banishing Spam
I've also used this filter action to automatically "trash" recurring Spam emails that I may be getting. I don't know if this happens to you, but I will get the same spam email every day from the same source and it will be left on the same old post each time. When I see this happening, I just create a filter with the "Subject" line that the spam filter always uses (not the "From" in this case since it usually just says Anonymous) and I will choose the "Delete" action. The filter automatically trashes the spam comment every time it comes in. :)
An organized Gmail Inbox is a happy Gmail Inbox! :) Ok, I'm off to read and organize 4,500+ e-mails...wish me luck! Send fudge sundaes. Reinforcement is needed! ;)
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