#7 I Only See the Benefits of Doing the Bare Minimum in Outlook - Top 10 Mistakes That Cause a Disorganised Inbox

HOW TO OVERCOME #7 I only see the benefits of the doing the bare minimum

For some people it doesn't seem worthwhile to do anything but the bare minimum in their inbox. By bare minimum I mean just sending and receiving emails (perhaps occasionally deleting the odd email). 

You might be thinking...I know how to send a new email and I can forward an email, what's the point in doing more?

The reality is that 86% of business professionals prefer to communicate via email - Hubspot

If you are not organised in the way that your customers or colleagues like to communicate with you, there is a very good chance that this is costing you.

It's not a case of IF you miss emails, it's how often do you miss emails? And how often do you have that sick feeling in your stomach that there are emails in your inbox that you have forgotten to action?

How many times have you lost a customer because you didn't have a clear plan to reply to their email? 

Or that important thing you were supposed to email them about that never happened because sending that email never made it on to your to-do list? 

Maybe you did put something into your calendar to make sure that you sent that important email. BUT when the reminder popped up, you dismissed it because you were in the middle of doing something else and then you completely forgot about it. 

TIP:

Here's a suggestion...avoid the dreaded "dismiss & forget" by using your calendar ONLY for time-sensitive meetings & appointments. No more reminders to pay a bill, pick up your dry cleaning, call your #1 client or submit a crucial report. All of this belongs on your to-do list. Keep it out of your calendar. You'll only just snooze the reminder 5 times until you get frustrated, dismiss it and forget.

Be strict - from now on the rule is only things that MUST start at the allotted time (like meetings or appointments) can go into your calendar. If the pop up reminder can be snoozed, without taking action at the dedicated time, it doesn't belong in your calendar.

Now that you recognise the business cost of using your email in a basic way...begin doing more than the bare minimum in your inbox, get started with help from The Right Outlook https://www.therightoutlook.com.au/how-to-get-started