How to be an Organized Blogger Part 5 – Organize Your Emails + Junk Drawers

Today, I’m sharing with you the final part of my How to be an Organized Blogger Series.

Okay, two things (there are many more but I’ll leave you with two today) that bother me more than anything in this world and they are:

1) Unread/undeleted email messages and

2) Junk drawers

My eye twitches just thinking about it.

I’m going to show you how I solve both of those problems. Ready?

Organize emails & junk drawers | somuchbetterwithage.com

Organize Your Emails

Do you know someone like this? A person that just doesn’t click an email so it just sits there and after awhile the emails accumulate.

ARRGGGHH

This photo is from a link titled:  45 Photos That Will Annoy You More Than They Should (amen!)

Organize emails & junk drawers | somuchbetterwithage.com

via source (thanks Nikki!)

People of the world, just CLICK THE EMAIL and do something with it! Delete it or read it or unsubscribe. But why? WHY do you  have to let it just sit there like that saying ‘read me, read me’.

You will never see that with my inbox!

But how do you deal with the 100s (or in this case 1000s!) of emails that pile up?

  • If it’s a forward or something I don’t want, I delete it right away.
  • If it’s a newsletter type of email that you no longer want, unsubscribe
  • If it’s something that needs attention today, star or flag it
  • If it’s a job that you’ve completed, file it in a folder
  • If it’s important information (login or registration information), file it in a folder.

What are these folders you’re talking about?

Here are a few of my folders. I counted all of them, I have 156 folders. I don’t know how many folders you can have but I’m willing to take on that challenge.

Organize emails & junk drawers | somuchbetterwithage.com

After you’ve gone through your inbox and deleted the unnecessary and filed the important, every item in your inbox should be a ‘to do’ item – something that truly needs an ACTION.

So when I look at my inbox, I know that every one of those emails needs an ACTION. Currently I have 50 emails in my inbox so that means I have 50 things to do. UGH.

But at least it’s not 4,483!

Honestly, it’s just as simple as that. Try to stay on your daily emails daily and go through your entire inbox at least once a week to weed out the unnecessary and file the important.

Organize emails & junk drawers | somuchbetterwithage.com

Just Say No to Junk Drawers

I HATE junk drawers. I don’t have any of them in my house.

Here is how I tackle all the little necessities we all need to have on hand.

Organize emails & junk drawers | somuchbetterwithage.com

Little drawers that keep everything in their place. I keep these two drawer sets next to my desk in my office.

(I bought these years ago at Ikea and don’t think they sell them anymore)

I do have some items in our kitchen office on the main floor but the majority of items stay here.

And seriously, my husband still asks…”where are the batteries?”

Um…in the drawer labelled BATTERIES!!

Junk drawer organization by somuchbetterwithage.com

For important papers and bills, I use a filing cabinet and I use these white binders for other miscellaneous papers.

Instead of shoving loose papers in a junk drawer, organize them into categories and file them into a binder for easy reference.

Here are some ideas for binders that I use:

  • binders for school newsletters, notices, parent contact information (one binder for each child)
  • binders for the blog courses I take
  • a binder for house renovation receipts
  • a binder with all the paint colors I’ve used in my house and other house stuff
  • a binder for miscellaneous information
  • a binder for takeout menus

Organize emails & junk drawers | somuchbetterwithage.com

I have a binder that holds miscellaneous stuff and it’s great for those odd references you keep referring to but seem to forget from time to time.

Organize emails & junk drawers | somuchbetterwithage.com

Such as my organic cleaning solution.

Organize your papers by somuchbetterwithage.com

Or how to sanitize baby toys.

I fill my binders with plastic clear sheets so I can slip a piece of paper into a slot when I need to hang on to something.

Paper organization with binders by somuchbetterwithage.com

Hope this has inspired you to get your office organized!

Check out the all the posts in this series.

HOW TO BE AN ORGANIZED BLOGGER SERIES

Part 1 – Campaign Front Sheet printable (click here)

Part 2 – Organize Ad Networks & Affiliates with printables (click here)

Part 3 – Brand Contacts printable and To Do List printable (click here)

Part 4 – Bookkeeping 101 with spreadsheet (click here)

Part 5 – Organize Your Emails & Junk Drawers (today!)

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18 Comments

  1. I am going to file this under something I should definitely do ! I hate deleting emails
    ! I always thing there is something in there I will need, lol.

  2. I’d LOVE to get to just 50 emails in my inbox…and actually I’m getting closer to that goal with my Thinking Closet email. It’s my Lauren Lanker email that is out of controllllll! I actually recently started using labels in a similar way that you use folders (in truth, I’m not 100% sure on the different). I can label them with various labels and then move them out of my inbox and into just one of them (kind of like a folder?) but it’s definitely helping! I just need to set aside time each day to start working back through my old read emails…there’s the rub! Thanks for sharing a glimpse into your inbox and giving me the motivation to git ‘er done! I needed this!

    1. haha, sweet! Getting myself a new job! My friends and family are always wanting me to organize them but it’s hard just to keep up with my stuff.
      Hugs, Jamie

  3. I love this, and I want those little draws. I love to organize including my emails and I have 138 separate files in my email so they can go to the appropriate category!

  4. Ohhh, I totally needed this. You have made me very happy. I’m visiting from Create. Link. Inspire. I just asked my 13 yr-old niece if I can hire her to do some blog work for me over the summer. That should help free up a little time for me to be creative.

  5. I’m good at keeping my inbox organized with all kinds of labels. But junk drawers…. haha. I’m so terrible with those. If I don’t know where to put it, it just gets thrown in a drawer with more random stuff and it piles up quick! It’s a habit I definitely need to break!

  6. There is something about seeing someone else’s incredibly organized space that always makes me want to get up and clean! You totally inspired here! I really don’t have junk drawers, but my life is not nearly as organized and labeled as yours. And I do try to stay up with my emails but before I know it they build up. Love your idea of all the folders to sort everything into. Must go sort through my inbox now 🙂

    1. Glad I inspired you, Jamie! It’s a constant battle to keep on top of it all, isn’t it? Especially when you have a blog! Thanks for stopping by.
      Hugs, Jamie

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