Having a ton of emails after some time off can be rough. Scan through and organize based on priority and impact to the business. Mark the ones with the biggest business impact as high priority to focus on and let those stakeholders know it's being worked on. Skim through the rest, answer those emails that are quick and easy (i.e. takes less than a minute to respond).. this can clear up quite a bit. Set aside emails that require work effort, but have low impact, as medium/low priority and let those stakeholders know when they can expect a response (e.g. by end of week).

Filtering emails is key here, and there are multiple ways doing it: - Applying Rules or Labels based on the context of the email (being in CC vs being in the To field) - Who’s the sender of the email (an internal colleague that waits for a project answer or an external customer that you are trying to make business with) - Further manual triaging of emails; is there anything that pops up immediately? Have you sorted some of the problems/requests already, given in urgent cases you might have had a call? - Block time in your diary to work on these emails, especially after time off. - Even when you don’t have time to answer, still let people know that you are looking into it and will provide a proper answer as soon as you can.

Time management is essential for effectively handling both urgent emails and primary tasks. By setting clear time frames for each responsibility, I can prioritize effectively and achieve better results. Throughout my work experience, I’ve developed a habit of filtering tasks and emails by importance, which has helped me stay focused on my goals. I also regularly reassess my priorities. I value delivering quality work within the allotted time, rather than overextending myself. I recall how, during exams in school and college, I would first review the entire question paper and allocate specific time to each question, ensuring I finished on or before the deadline. This same approach has been invaluable in my professional life as well.

Hereby some tips I use. 1. 1st hour = no mail. Get some work done first. 2. Block email time in your agenda on lower energy moments i.e. after lunch. 3. Use rules: too inbox vs cc inbox. 4. Filter: for me? No, forward. 5. > 2 min. to answer => plan in your agenda. Use tasks and flags. 6. Start with last mail in a thread. 7. External/customer/ priority mails first. 8. Install a good email etiquette in your team: i.e - don't forget phonecall, chats, pings or walking over as communication tool. - good subject lines that includes the deadline - no automatic use of 'reply to all' - to-line = action required; cc = who need to know. - summary at the top of the mail, more details in the body or attachment.

One thing I found extremely useful in managing emails/tasks are by following the Urgent & Important Matrix. Emails can be divided into four quadrants I Quadrant: Urgent/Important: Do it immediately and if you've too many of these kind of requests then inform your colleague or stake holder before you put it on hold. II Quadrant: Urgent/Not Important: Best way to tackle these kind of request is to either to delegate to your team or take help from peers. III Quadrant: Not Urgent/Important: Schedule it for a later part of the day or time, keep stake holders & colleagues informed on time line. IV Quadrant: Not Urgent/Not Important: Clear these when you're free or delete these emails. Frequently scan your inbox to sort emails daily.