https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 09 May 2026 11:38:01 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980815 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 10:48:31 +0000 heartonastring 980815@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Once an email is no longer an action item it gets filed or deleted. Most of my emails have to be saved for file retention reasons. I have about 85 different folders that emails get saved in depending on the sender/subject. I then archive old emails about twice per year to open up storage space in my email. Ideally, at the end of any given day, my inbox is empty. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980764 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 10:35:37 +0000 Alivoo01 980764@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I file mine by Year--&gt;Project. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980751 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 10:32:47 +0000 mrskc 980751@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wahine08: ack! I don't even want to click on my sent items. I forgot about those. </p> <p>@yoursilverlining: this is how my boss files- by year, then person. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980728 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 10:26:39 +0000 Smurfette 980728@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have way too many folders, but it keeps me in check. Most are done by year and then month. Then I have a file for personal (vacation requests, etc), IT, special projects, etc. As soon as I answer the email or don't need to follow up, it gets filed. I hate having too many emails in my inbox. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980715 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 10:23:33 +0000 MrsH 980715@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I save them into client folders. My work has a 30 day email retention policy so if they don't get saved then they get deleted. It's a legal thing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980612 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 09:59:12 +0000 yoursilverlining 980612@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I create folders for everyone I work with regularly and name the folders that person's name for ease, and then group those folders by department or task (i.e., "legal", "HR", "state of ___")</p> <p>Every email gets put into a folder.</p> <p>I don't delete ANY emails. You never know when you will need proof that you really did send that document to someone, or that someone really did send that racist/sexist/otherwise inappropriate email! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980607 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 09:58:16 +0000 mrskc 980607@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@highwire: lol! That's my current system. All in my inbox and I search when I need something. It's driving me a little crazy though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980606 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 09:58:12 +0000 wahine08 980606@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have MANY different folders but this is the only way I can keep organized (I make it a goal to have a close to empty inbox each day.. I'm usually left with high priority or "check up on items" in the inbox. I know there is a "flag" system for it, but I only use flags to bookmark certain emails like codes or info I need to use)</p> <p>I don't ever delete an email and I try to file my sent emails as well. This way, I have all the message pertaining to a certain chain.</p> <p>I'm SURE there are better ways haha but this works really well for me! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980604 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 09:57:45 +0000 Pink Champagne 980604@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Emails for specific projects get their own folder. I also have a folder for "Saved Communications"- these are emails that my company sends out with important info that I might need to reference later but that don't pertain to a specific job function of mine. I delete all but the last email in a string if communications. I also delete all emails pertaining to the communication once the conversation is over or whatever it is we were talking about is taken care of.<br /> I have 6 emails in my main inbox right now. It stresses me out if there are more than like, 15 at any given time. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980602 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 09:57:36 +0000 mrskc 980602@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LemonLong: That's where I would like to get to--to a point where I only have emails in there that require action. It's going to take me awhile it chip away at it. I like the category idea! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980601 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 09:57:31 +0000 DillonLion 980601@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No system here. They just all sit in one place and I just search for what I need. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980578 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 09:53:57 +0000 blackbird 980578@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>same as lemonlong, i file them as soon as tasks are completed. I can always reference them later. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980562 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 09:50:51 +0000 LemonLong 980562@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I create folders based on project or subject of the e-mail. I only keep e-mails in my inbox that I still need to take action on. I use the category system in the inbox to group e-mails, so if I need to hold onto an email for awhile to remind me to do something later it goes in the red category, orange means I'm waiting for a response on the e-mail, etc. I then sort my inbox by category so everything is grouped together. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980551 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 09:47:26 +0000 mrskc 980551@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@blackbird: That's a good idea to do it by year. I can't believe I've let my email get so bad. It's embarrassing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980522 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 09:39:01 +0000 blackbird 980522@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I file mine by project or program that I'm working on and then by subsequent issue. I do that for every year </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-file-and-clean-out-your-work-email#post-980475 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 09:30:11 +0000 mrskc 980475@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My work email is a mess. Almost everything is in my inbox and I have no great way of organizing and filing my emails. I've been at my job for 3 years and I'm embarrassed to say that there are still emails in my inbox from back in 2010. </p> <p>I want to slowly start going through them, deleting and filing away my emails and clean out my inbox. </p> <p>What is your system? So far I have folders organized by project that I dump important emails into. I try and delete all emails in a string except for the last one that. I wonder if I should save them off of outlook in folders on my computer? </p> <p>Help! How do you stay on top of your emails? </p>