Get your InBox under control for your job search
You started college with a brand new email, your @huskers.unl.edu, and now, a few years later, it may be out of control. When you add your previous personal email and employer emails, you may feel like you are drowning in email.
Employers (and UNL faculty and staff) need to be able to reach you, so take some time to organize your email this summer. Spend 10 minutes a day to focus on email and you’ll quickly be set!
1. Your InBox should have a manageable number of emails (I try to keep mine under 50 messages) and ideally, should not serve as a “To Do” list. Set your own target for the number of emails you want in your InBox.
2. Do you receive emails from stores, subscriptions, restaurants, and news? If you no longer want them, look for the “unsubscribe” link to stop receiving them or change the frequency from daily to weekly or monthly. You are not able to unsubscribe from UNL newsletters sent to your Huskers email.
3. Review your “Notifications” from other software. Do you need to be notified every time someone “likes” something you also “liked?” Go to your account settings (this is usually easier on the computer instead of your phone) and review your email and push notification settings.
4. Check your Canvas “Notifications” as well. Be sure that you are getting the Notifications you want. Be careful with this, because you don’t want to miss important messages from your instructors!
5. Now since you are reducing the amount of incoming email, now see what you can delete. Sort your email by “From” and select multiple messages from those bulk emails and delete them all (the coupon is probably expired anyway!). In some email systems, you can also “Search” keywords for brands or topics and delete unneeded emails.
6. Create Folders to store important emails. For example, you might have a folder for each of your classes. When your BSAD 222 instructor emails you, read it and move it to a folder so you can find the information later. I have a folder labeled “Upcoming” for concert tickets, travel plans, and programs I want to see. I also have one I call “To Make Me Happy” and store nice emails from people and clever articles or stories.
7. Finally, when you read an email, make a decision immediately about that email. Microsoft shares the 4D Method: delete it, do it, delegate it, and defer it. If you don’t need it, delete the email. If you can do it, get it done (reply, RSVP, move it to a folder). Delegate may be harder at this stage, but if someone else should be handling it, send it on. And finally Defer, you can either leave it in your InBox or move it to a folder, maybe called “To Do” or “Priority” and then work from there.
Now you’ll be ready for the fall recruiting and better set to handle your classes!
More details at: https://business.unl.edu/current-students/business-career-center