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Episode Summary
There is an email tool that exists inside every type of inbox that is incredibly useful yet somehow confusing to many. In this episode, Amy will clear things up so you can finally utilize this tool and make it part of your daily email workflow.
Items Mentioned
Blog Post: How to Free-Up Storage in Gmail
Digital Organization Coaching
Sign-Up for the Online coaching series that begins January 27, 2023 [here]
Join the email list for future notifications [here]
Tiny Tip
Organize a coffee date with another teacher!
Tag me on Instagram @amychaplinpiano or on Facebook @PianoPantry
Transcript:
I’m Amy Chaplin, and this is The Piano Pantry Podcast, a show about living life as independent music teachers. Besides piano teaching, I also enjoy the back-end of organizing and managing a business. In today’s episode, I’m going to give you my very best tip for actively and successfully managing your email inbox.
There is an email tool that exists inside every type of inbox (at least that I’m aware of) that is so obvious and yet I continually hear is confusing to many. I’m here to clear things up so you can finally utilize this tool and make it part of your daily email workflow. I’m completely confident that once you do, it will help free both your time and your mind as it did mine.
We’ve started this 2023 podcast season with a couple of organization-focused episodes for good reason. I don’t know about you, but I always find the start of the new school year in August more focused on studio offerings and student plans. The turn of the calendar year lends itself more easily and naturally as a time to both set goals and re-think work processes.
Since it’s the dead of winter – at least here in the Northern Hemisphere – there’s not always much going on in our studios. Festivals and recitals rarely happen in January, and unlike the surrounding months, there are no major gatherings or holidays. The nearing tax season means we may spend a little extra time focusing on the behind-the-scenes part of our businesses.
Going through the process of preparing for taxes is a wonderful way to take a bit of a reality check. It forces us to step back and see the big picture of how our business is being run and how our funds are being used. We’re never more aware of how we’re running our business than we are at tax time.
Likewise, as we discussed in episode 52, being organized is not a one-off activity but an ongoing process and mindset. That being said, when we begin to re-think our daily work processes and organizational strategies, as we do at tax time with our expenses, it behooves us to take time to assess and view our workflow from a birds-eye view – not just in one-off instances but to set aside dedicated time once a year to tackle it as a whole. I KNOW how hard that is to do that on your own, so I have JUST the opportunity for you.
This week is the last chance to register for my digital organization coaching series. Running for eight consecutive weeks beginning THIS Friday, January 27, you’ll meet with me in a small-group setting from 12:00-1:00 pm EST via Zoom to get your digital workspace in order.
I’ll walk you through a step-by-step process of cleaning up and re-organizing eight major areas, including all your devices, email, photo & video storage, document storage, and more.
Visit the link in the show notes to join. I can’t wait to see you there!
OK, the part of your email we’re talking about today is the “All Mail” section. Sometimes, discussing technology can be a little tricky because not all email programs work the same. But “All Mail” is something you will see in your left sidebar if you use Gmail or the Apple Mail app. In Microsoft Outlook, it’s called the “Archive.” To be completely transparent, I’m not as familiar with Outlook anymore as I am Gmail and the Apple Mail app, so while I’m pretty sure the Outlook “Archive” functions in the same way as the Gmail and Mail app’s “All Mail,” I’ll admit, I can’t say with 100% certainty so you might have to do just a little trialing yourself to make sure.
I actually used Outlook in my early work days but switched to Gmail about ten years ago. While it took me a little while to figure out Gmail, in the end, I actually find it to be more user-friendly and visually appealing than Outlook, but that’s a whole other conversation.
OK. So, what is “All Mail.” Well, luckily, the answer is easy. It’s exactly what it says it is. Literally, it is EVERYTHING. THAT. EXISTS. IN. YOUR. EMAIL that’s not in the trash. That means you’ll see everything that’s in your inbox, as well as anything that is in a folder (or in Gmail) that has a label. I used to think that in Gmail, the term “label” was simply another way of calling it a folder, but the Gmail “labels” function more like tags than folders which is actually to our benefit.
In email terms, putting things into “folders” usually means removing them from one location and placing them into another so you can only find them in that folder. Tags, or Gmail labels, on the other hand, mean that you’re not necessarily moving an email out of one location and into another; you can simply label it in various ways. For example, maybe your label is as “orders” and “studio,” so you could go to each label individually and find the same email in both locations without duplicating that email.
In my opinion, Gmail’s implementation of the word “label” is even better than the term “tag” used in other digital management tools like Evernote as it’s more descriptive of what you’re actually doing.
Here’s the big kicker where I think many of us get caught up. Moving emails out of our inboxes can be a little scary. We want to feel like we need to know and control exactly where everything is going, so we either leave everything in our Inbox – which is way overwhelming – because it’s like a to-do list that’s never complete – or we spend unnecessary time either moving emails into folders or labeling them, so we know exactly where they are.
What if I told you this is all unnecessary? It took me a while to get to this point, but once I did, I can’t tell you how freeing it was.
The fact that we can simply allow all of our emails to exist in one place – in the “All Mail” section without having to be in our inbox is such an amazing and simple answer. This, along with the fact that the Search function in our email accounts is amazingly strong, makes retrieving any email easier than you think. Don’t believe me? Try some out; start searching for emails from a certain person or using a keyword you might expect yourself to use.
Are you an email hoarder? Guess what, all the more power to you! I’m not actually telling you to delete more. Just get it out of your Inbox! The All Mail function works to your advantage!
Think of your Inbox like your post office mail delivery person. They process and sort and everything is cleared away by the end of the day and delivered. The Inbox waits for the next piece of mail to arrive the next day. Your Inbox is for processing.
You might be surprised that I am not big on having a goal of Inbox 0. I understand its goal, but having 25 or fewer emails and even up to 50 max is not unreasonable. Everything beyond that cannot be that important, or you would’ve done something with it already.
I know what it is. You’re afraid you won’t be able to find it but DON’T WORRY! It’s not going to be lost. In Gmail, all you have to do is remove the Inbox Label or hit the button that says “Archive” . The fact that these two terms aren’t the same in Gmail and Apple Mail is part of the reason why I think this can be confusing. So, to “Archive” means to let it just exist in your “All Mail” Folder. Even emails that have labels exist in All Mail, they haven’t been “moved” into that label, just given a bit of a description.
Fear not! Nothing is lost unless you hit delete.
Even then, it’s usually in your trash for at least 30 days, where it can be restored.
So, to recap:
- Inbox should only be for things that still need attention/action/processing
- It’s OK to use some labels for things that you really need to be able to see in a group that you may not remember how to search for (keep it minimal!)
- The archive is for everything you want to keep access to for reference but that doesn’t necessarily need to action
Now, go do some work on that your email inbox. Get comfortable using the Archive Button and notice the difference between your Inbox, Labels, and the All Mail function. If you found this tip useful, don’t forget there’s more where that came from! You’ll tips like this and much, much more in the digital organization coaching series that starts this Friday, January 27. If you can’t participate in this round, you can also sign up using the link in the show notes for an email list where you’ll be notified the next time the series is open for registration.
In today’s tiny tip, I want to challenge you to take advantage of some of this quieter time in our studios in the next couple of weeks before Superbowl and Valentine’s day hits to reach out to another teacher and invite them to coffee. Whether it’s a new teacher you know of in your area, an old colleague you haven’t had much time with, or a new friend on Instagram you invite to meet for a virtual drink to get to know each other face to face, take time to connect.
This past week I hosted a little gathering with all the independent music teachers in town. Sitting around for an hour with a warm drink and chatting about studio life was so nice. Connecting with each other is so important. One of my personal favorite episodes of this podcast is 013 – How to Make Music Teacher Friends. This podcast is short enough; jump back and give it a listen and while you’re doing so, send that coffee invitation.
I’m kicking myself for forgetting to take a picture with all my local teachers gathered together so do me a favor and do better than me. Take a photo or screenshot of your coffee date and share it on social media. Tag me in the photo – on Instagram you’ll find me at amychaplinpiano or on Facebook at piano pantry. I can’t wait to see all you all gathering together!
