Does the constant ping of your inbox distract you from other tasks? Is checking your email taking up far too much time? Read on for my top tips on how to manage your inbox most effectively and efficiently.

• Alerts

My first bit of advice is to turn off all audio and visual alerts and only check your inbox at set times of the day. First thing in the morning, lunchtime and late afternoon often works well. You can also set your inbox to only receive emails at certain times, and if necessary, you can set up an automated reply telling people when you will be checking your mail.

• Folders

Folders, folders, folders! The key to an organised email account is for the only emails in your inbox to be those that still need action. Everything else should be filed or deleted as appropriate.

• Rules

A great way to automatically clear the bulk of your inbox is to set up rules to send certain emails directly to a folder. For example, you could file any emails you are cc’d into a ‘to read’ folder. Regular emails from the same sender or on the same subject could go directly to their own folder. As could newsletters, blogs and articles.

• Unsubscribe

Are there certain emails that you end up deleting weekly or even daily? Then unsubscribe! Do this once and you will save yourself time and from a cluttered inbox in the long run.