How I currently deal with email overwhelm

I have a fair number of students, work on a number of projects, am involved with a number of technical committees and editorial boards and am moving collaborations to writing proposals. All of these interactions generate emails – lots of emails.

It is easy to feel a bit disheartened when I open my mailbox. After a holiday or even a few days full of meetings, my mailbox can feel like a mountain to climb. So, here ‘s how I currently tackle this task:

1. Organize by subject: When I get to reply my emails, I will organize them alphabetically by subject, so that I can answer per topic, which reduces the cognitive load of switching back and forth.
2. Put emails on my agenda: If an email requires more time to respond, such as reviewing a paper, addressing comments to a research report, or writing a recommendation letter, I will turn the email into a calendar invite for myself and my three calendars to reserve the time for it at a near point in the future.
3. Try not to let things linger: When emails fester in my mailbox for more than two weeks, I start to feel uneasy and stressed. Note: I delete emails from my inbox and store them in the relevant folders on my computer (if necessary) once I’m done with them – my inbox is for receiving things, not for archiving them.
4. Make time: If the pile gets too large, I either clear some tasks from my schedule to sit with a coffee and some good music and plow through my backlog, or I take a few evenings to clear my mailbox and get things done. Sometimes all it needs is the necessary time to get back on track.

What do you do when your mailbox is overflowing?