How to Manage Your Emails in 5 Easy Steps

There were so many mornings when I’d walk into the office and find about 100 new emails waiting for me. My first thought was always, “Don’t people sleep?” My second thought came quickly after: “How am I ever going to get through these emails, and still get everything else done today?”

At first, I thought I could outsmart the problem. I developed what I call “email denial”: I told myself that if something was really urgent, surely someone would call me, ping me on IM, or even walk over to my desk. I decided it was better to focus on real work and let the emails pile up.

Sound familiar?

This strategy worked for a bit—but it didn’t take long to realize it was deeply flawed. By letting my inbox become a black hole, I missed critical updates, arrived at meetings unprepared, and even forgot action items that later came back to bite me. Worse, I found myself working long evenings trying to catch up.

Clearly, something had to change.

In this article, I’ll share five time-saving tips that genuinely helped me—and can help any project manager—regain control of the inbox, stay informed, and save hours each week.

1️⃣ Establish Smart Email Subfolders

Let’s start with a tactical but powerful step: creating a subfolder system that matches the way you work as a project manager.

The purpose of these subfolders isn’t to hide emails away and forget them, but rather to keep your inbox clear and make it easier to locate information later.

Here’s what worked for me:

• Projects (Top Folder)

  • Current Project 1

    • Budget Management

    • Status Reporting

    • Development

    • Testing

    • Approvals

    • Risks & Issues

  • Current Project 2 (similar breakdown)

• Pending Approvals – emails where I’m waiting for someone’s decision

• Stakeholder Communications – steering committee notes, sponsor updates

• Reference Materials – tools, templates, guides

For example, if there’s a long email thread about a software integration risk, I’ll drag it into the Risks & Issues folder within that project. Later, if the topic resurfaces (and it always does), I don’t have to dig through thousands of emails—I know exactly where it is.

The subfolder system does two things:

• Keeps your inbox manageable

• Builds a living archive of key project topics

Tip: Avoid creating too many folders. If you go overboard, you’ll spend more time deciding where to file an email than actually processing it.

2️⃣ Review Emails to Note Actions, Not to Take Immediate Action

One of the biggest time traps? Trying to do everything immediately as you read emails.

Instead, change your mindset: when you go through your inbox, your first goal is to identify and note action items, not do them right away.

Here’s how this works:

• Scan an email

• Decide: Is there an action here?

• If yes: jot it down in your To-Do list or action tracker

• File the email into its appropriate subfolder

This way, you clear your inbox and create a prioritized list of actions. When you’ve finished processing all emails, you can look at your action list and decide what actually deserves attention today.

Why this matters:

• Prevents distractions from low-priority tasks

• Helps you stay focused on true project priorities

• Stops you from reacting to the latest email instead of the most important one

You can also take suggestions from the Getting Things Done® (GTD) Methodology — a popular system for capturing and processing tasks

3️⃣ Beware the “It’ll Only Take Two Minutes” Trap

We’ve all done it.

You read an email that seems quick: “Hey, can you clarify when the test environment will be ready?” You think, “Sure, two minutes!” So you reply.

But your reply sparks a follow-up question. Then maybe an IM. Then a spontaneous call. Suddenly, that “two-minute” task has taken 20 minutes or more.

This is how your entire morning disappears.

Instead, unless it’s genuinely urgent (like an escalation or a blocker for your team), log it in your action list and keep moving.

Exception: If an email is high-priority and time-sensitive—like a critical escalation—then yes, act immediately.

Being disciplined here can save hours each week.

If you're interested on doing an inventory of where your work hours go, consider using RescueTime — automatic time-tracking to see where your work hours go.

4️⃣ Schedule Set Times to Process Emails

If your email is always open, your focus is always divided.

A better approach is to schedule two or three windows per day where you process emails in batches.

For example:

• Morning (8:30–8:50 a.m.) – before daily stand-ups and morning meetings

• Midday (1:30–1:50 p.m.) – after lunch, before afternoon tasks

• Late afternoon (4:30–4:50 p.m.) – to catch end-of-day updates

  
  

Each window can be 15–20 minutes, depending on your workload.

By doing this:

• You avoid the constant ding of distractions

• You still stay responsive, but on your terms

• You protect big blocks of time for deep work (planning, risk reviews, stakeholder reporting)

If your role absolutely requires high responsiveness, you can add a quick 5-minute check every hour—but don’t fully dive in each time.

5️⃣ Leverage an Action Item Document (AID)

One of the best habits I developed: keeping a living action item log—usually a simple Excel sheet.

When you process emails, update your AID rather than trying to remember details later.

Your AID can include:

Item	Owner	Due Date	Status	Notes/Email Reference
UAT Environment Ready	Dev Team	Aug 10	In Progress	Email on July 20, see Testing folder

Example:

Imagine you get an email:

“We’ve finished developing Feature X; QA can start testing now.”

On the surface, there’s no direct action for you—but you might need to:

• Ensure QA actually begins testing

• Update your status report

• Confirm test completion before the release date

By noting it in your AID, nothing slips through. From here, you can manage your to do list.

Real-World Reflection

Before I adopted these strategies, I felt constantly behind. I’d open my inbox each morning and feel anxious. Evenings would find me still scrolling, still flagging, still worrying about what I’d missed.

After building this system, my inbox stopped feeling like an unpredictable enemy. Instead, it became what it should be: just another tool I manage.

More importantly, I regained time—time to meet stakeholders, plan proactively, and lead my teams instead of firefighting.

Bonus Tips & Tools for Project Managers

While the five main tips above were game-changers for me, here are a few bonus ideas to make email even more manageable:

• Use rules & filters

  • Automate routine emails into folders (e.g., system notifications, Jira updates).

  • Outlook Rules & Alerts Guide — from Microsoft

• Turn off email alerts

  • Sound notifications and pop-ups kill focus. Check on your schedule.

• Templates

  • If you often send the same type of reply, save a draft template.

• Use search strategically

  • Get familiar with advanced search operators

• Use flags or categories sparingly

  • Only flag emails you must revisit today, not every “maybe.”

Why This Matters as a Project Manager

Project managers often wear many hats: planner, facilitator, communicator, problem solver.

Email is both a blessing and a curse. It keeps us connected—but it also buries us in noise.

By building discipline around:

• Structuring folders

• Separating review vs. action

• Scheduling checks

• Capturing action items outside the inbox

…you shift from being reactive to proactive.

You’ll feel less stressed, and your stakeholders and teams will notice the difference.

Final Thoughts

It’s easy to give up on your inbox—to let unread emails pile up, telling yourself “if it’s really important, someone will call.” But that approach eventually costs you: missed details, slow responses, and more stress.

The good news: with a structured system, your inbox can become a manageable, even useful, part of your daily routine.

These five tips won’t remove emails from your life—but they will give you back control.

Your Turn

Have your own strategies for staying ahead of your inbox? Share them in the comments — I'd love to read what works for other project managers!

And if you found this post helpful, please share it with colleagues who might be battling their own email overload.

Author’s Note

I wrote this based on real struggles (and some real embarrassment) I faced as a project manager. My hope is these lessons help someone else win back a little time—and sanity—each day.