Keeping things organized

I hear from many people that their inbox is overrun with messages, many from friends and family or business contacts. The inbox becomes a place to keep things, but we often have to search our inbox to find the information we seek.

I recommend a few simple steps to make it easier to find what you're looking for, and work toward the elusive Inbox Zero.

Copy any events with a calendar date to your calendar app

For Gmail users, simply open an email message and click on the three dots in the toolbar just below the search box, then click Create Event. Edit the date and time and save it to your calendar. Delete the original email message knowing that the critical information is stored in your calendar.

Move photos to your photos app or CMS

Sending pictures by email is a great way to stay in touch with people, or share details of work projects with customers. To organize the photos it is best to store them in a photos app, like Google Photos, and to label them with enough information to quickly find them again. Create an album with a descriptive title like Summer Trip to Idaho or Home Remodel at 1234 Main Street. If you use a Content Management System for work or play, tagging photos with keywords helps pull them up quickly and keeps you organized.

Save the sender's contact information

Adding a sender to your address book is easily done in many email programs. But if you don't use a contact management app, you can always copy the name and email address and save it in a spreadsheet labeled Contacts. Excel and Google Sheets are very popular for this purpose but many contact management apps exist and will make it easy if someday you switch email accounts or apps and wish to import your list into another program.

Use the delete button

Some messages merely need to be ready once and then discarded. You don't need to keep newsletters, promotional messages, or seasonal updates from organizations you support; it is ok to delete the message. Many recurring email senders such as nonprofits post their newsletters to their websites or provide links in the newsletter to view previous editions. Deleting messages from your inbox is freeing and if you don't delete messages, some day your inbox may reach a limit and future messages will be blocked until you've freed up space.

Whenever you're looking for advice on organizing your digital content, reach out to me for a quick response and peace of mind. Web Bro takes care of your online presence so you can go about your business.

Jesse Steed (507) 301-6785 info@webbrohd.com