Understanding how ADHD affects your email management can help you develop effective strategies. These strategies will give you more control, preventing email from becoming an overwhelming burden. The key to success is implementing an appropriate system. I know you’ve tried several approaches before with mixed results.
If you haven’t found a solution yet, you might be missing one or more crucial elements of the email management puzzle. In this three-part series, I’ll walk you through each step to help you manage your email effectively, tailored to work with your ADHD.
Are you ready?
Step #1 – Determine How Much Time You Need Daily to Manage Your Email
People with ADHD often experience a distorted sense of time, sometimes called time blindness. This can make it difficult to accurately estimate how long tasks take, including processing your emails. As a result, you might be unsure of how much time you should allocate each day to stay on top of your inbox. Fortunately, you can figure this out through trial and error. One practical approach is to set a timer each time you work on your email over the next two weeks. Initially, when you’re just establishing your routine, you may need more time than expected.
Here’s a suggestion: start by setting aside about an hour for email processing. If you prefer the Pomodoro technique, try two blocks of 25-30 minutes each. The only way to find out what works best is to experiment and be okay with making adjustments along the way.
Step #2 – Decide When to Process Your Email
If you currently check your email sporadically—perhaps between tasks—you might avoid dealing with some messages because you don’t have enough time to craft a proper response. You may tell yourself, “I’ll get to it later,” or leave emails in your inbox as reminders. While this might seem efficient, it often leads to your inbox growing uncontrollably, since you’re not giving yourself dedicated time to decide what to do with each message.
To prevent this, choose 1-4 specific times each day to focus solely on processing and replying to emails. Remind yourself of the benefits—like maintaining good communication and reducing stress—and commit to making email management a consistent part of your routine.
Even if you tend to check your email randomly, ensure that during your scheduled times, you spend enough time to thoroughly address messages.
Step #3 – Treat Your Email Backlog as a Separate Project
Many people accumulate a backlog of older emails, and trying to clear it all in one day can feel overwhelming—especially if your daily schedule is already tight. The solution is to focus on managing your current emails first (say, from the past week), during your regular processing sessions.
Then, treat the backlog—emails older than a week—as a separate project by:
– Scheduling specific times over the next few weeks to work through it.
– Reminding yourself that it will take some dedicated effort.
– Making the process more enjoyable—perhaps by working from a coffee shop or a comfortable location.
Trying to tackle your entire backlog along with your current emails can be discouraging and unsustainable. So, if possible, keep these tasks separate to stay motivated and avoid feeling overwhelmed.
Stay Tuned for Step 4
In the next part of this series, I’ll help you decide what actions to take with each email. Making clear decisions is often a major challenge that prevents consistent inbox management