Unread Email: How do you manage your emails? Are you someone who keeps an inbox zero or are you someone who leaves thousands of emails unread? A new study published in the journal Information Research suggests that leaving all your emails in your inbox can leave you stressed about managing your personal records.
In an exploratory survey, we asked participants how they deal with their personal records such as bills, online subscriptions and similar items. Many of these come by email.
We found that most respondents left their electronic records in their emails. Only half of items such as bills and other documents were saved in other locations, such as on their computer or in the cloud. But having a disorganized inbox can also lead to problems, including missing bills and losing track of important correspondence.
Risk of losing track of your emails
Receiving bills, insurance renewals and other household documents by email saves time and money, and reduces unnecessary paper usage. However, there is a risk of some problems occurring if you do not check your electronic records regularly.
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Respondents in our research reported issues such as expired vehicle registrations, failing to cancel unwanted subscriptions and ignoring tax deductions because receipts were too much trouble to find. This shows that people can lose hundreds of dollars every year due to late fines and other email mistakes.
In addition to financial costs, research shows that not sorting and managing electronic records makes it more difficult to put together the information needed at tax time, or for other high-risk situations like loan applications.
What did we find?
We surveyed over 300 diverse respondents on their personal electronic records management. The majority of them were from Australia, but we also received responses from other countries, such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland, Portugal and elsewhere. Two-thirds of respondents used a cloud to manage personal records, such as bills, receipts, subscriptions and more. Used your email. Of those, we found that once respondents dealt with their email, about half of them sorted the emails into folders, while the other half left everything in the inbox. While most people sort their work email into folders, they were less likely to sort their personal email the same way.
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The results also showed that only half (52%) of respondents who left all their emails in their inbox were satisfied with their records management, compared to 71% of respondents who sorted their emails into folders.
Of the respondents who saved their paperwork in the cloud (Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, and so on), 83% reported that they were satisfied with their home records management. The study was exploratory, so further research is needed to see Will be needed to determine whether our findings apply more universally. However, our statistical analysis revealed practices that were associated with more satisfactory outcomes and some that may be better to avoid.
What could go wrong with an inbox-only approach?
Based on feedback, we’ve identified three main problems with leaving all your emails in your inbox. First, users may lose track of the tasks that need to be done. For example, a bill that needs to be paid may get overlooked due to other emails without paying attention.
Second, relying on search to find emails again means you need to know exactly what you’re looking for. For example, searching for charity donation receipts at tax time depends on remembering what to look for, as well as remembering the exact wording in the email containing the receipt. Third, many bills and statements appear as attachments in emails. Not in form, but as a hyperlink. If you change your bank or other service provider, those hyperlinks may not open at a later date. Not being able to access pay slips from a former employer can also cause problems, as shown by the robodebt scam or the recent case of the Australian Tax Office reviving old loans.
4 Tips for Better Records ManagementWhen we asked respondents to designate a preferred location for keeping their personal records, they tended to choose a more organized format than their current behavior. Ideally, only 8% of respondents wanted to leave everything in their email inbox unordered.
Our findings suggest a set of practices that can help you get on top of your electronic records and prevent stress or financial loss: – Sort your email into category folders, or save records in folders in the cloud or on a computer.
– Download documents not attached to the email or sent to you such as utility bills and all your pay slips
– Put important updates as reminders in your calendar, and
– Delete junk mail and unsubscribe, so your inbox can be turned into a to-do list.
(This article in The Conversation is written by Matt Balogh of the University of New England and is brought to us by PTI)