If you are anything like me, you have checked your email in the morning and been overwhelmed by the number of unread items in your inbox. Urgent messages from coworkers, clients, etc need to be responded to. Calendar invites to meetings remind you of even more work to come. And that store you bought a single plate from three years ago is giving you a 20% off coupon for the fourth time this week. For those who are working after receiving a cancer diagnosis, it can feel like your entire, already limited, pool of energy for the day can be spent just digging yourself out of emails every morning. A recent article from The Muse has some great tips on how to manage your inbox so you can better use your energy and time at work wisely.

1. Keep your inbox as sparse as possible
   We may never achieve zero emails in our inbox, but that is the ultimate goal. Delete spam and marketing emails you aren't going to use. Don't keep emails in your inbox that no longer require action such as those you have responded to or from projects that have been completed.
   
2. Create a system of folders
   A great way to keep your inbox clear is to file emails into different folders, or labels, for pending projects, items you are waiting on a response, emails you might need to reference later but don't need cluttering your inbox, etc. Be creative and find a system that works best for you and your job.
   
3. Set up rules or filters
   Certain emails can completely skip your inbox all together. Do you get automatic reports sent every morning that don't need to be read right away? Do you have newsletters you like to read, but don't need to make it part of a 9am routine? Set up rules or filters so those sender addresses or subject lines get filtered into their own folder where you can easily find them when you have time either later in the day or week. Every email client (Outlook, Gmail, etc) is going to have a different way to achieve this, but a quick Google search will bring up lots of articles that walk you through a step-by-step process to set these up.
   
4. Set reminders 
   Create a folder for "Later" or "Next month" for emails that do not need a response, but will need follow-up in a certain amount of time. Don't have those sitting in your inbox adding to the clutter, but file them away in a folder you can go back to. However it is easy to forget about them when you don't see it every day, so set a reminder (either in your work calendar, on your phone, in a project management software, or flag the email itself) for whenever you might need to come back to them. It's a good idea to set reminders on the earlier end of when you think you may need to revisit. You can always set the 
   
5. Create a document with common replies
   Do you get the same questions regularly? Or maybe have to send the same reminder each month for fellow employees to fill out their expense reports by X date? Don't spend time typing up a new email every time. Create a document with frequent emails that you can copy and paste, and maybe update a few key points like a date, or a revenue figure that has changed since last month. This can save more time and energy than you even realize.

For more tips on how to maintain focus and productivity at work after a diagnosis, check out Managing Treatment Side Effects.