8 Email Hacks to Stop Inbox Overwhelm
With copy-and-paste scripts I've collected over the last six months for you
“That feels pretty vulnerable, I imagine there must be some fears around that…?”
My client* breathes out slowly, clearly preparing to go deeper with me.
Then-BZZZ-the email notification from her smartwatch interrupts the moment.
She looks down, apologetic. “Sorry - just my inbox again.”
As a clinical psychologist working with burnout, I see this play out A LOT: technology invading not just workspaces, but the spaces meant for repair and reflection. After a discussion, this client removed the watch for the rest of our session. Then eventually she experimented with replacing it entirely with an analogue one. What surprised both of us was that she continued to feel ghost-like buzzing on her wrist for six months.
The body, it seems, remembered the interruptions long after they had stopped.
Does your inbox feel like a never-ending to-do list?
Digital overwhelm, including email overload and constant bombardment of notifications like this, is a key component of "technostress": the stress that arises from our constant interaction with technology. This is now being directly linked to burnout.
For example, one recent study in a German hospital found that two major forms of technostress: techno-overload and techno-complexity, significantly contributed to burnout in nurses.
When I learnt about the impact of technostress on burnout I started planning this blog post. It’s been in the pipeline for about six months now - whenever I’ve come across a healthy inbox strategy from someone I’ve saved it ready to share. I’ve now got eight practical strategies to protect your nervous system from inbox overload ready to share here. Each one includes a script or tweak you can use straight away.
1. Create a Boundary for CCs
Why: Being copied into every conversation hijacks your attention without a clear role. This kind of "techno-invasion" leads to cognitive overload; it drains your ability to focus and choose where to place your energy and attention, all of which increases the risk of burnout. It's not just about quantity of incoming data though, this also leads to ambiguity. When you're CC'd with no clear action, your brain stays on alert, scanning for what you might have missed and feeling somewhat responsible even if you’re not.
Practical Tip: Set up a rule in your inbox so that CC'd emails are automatically directed to a separate folder. You can check this once a day or every few days.
Script:
Set an auto-response for all CC emails along these lines:
“Many thanks for your email. As I’m CC’d (not directly addressed), this message has gone to a separate inbox I check periodically.
If you need me to action anything, please do resend the email with me as an action addressee.”
What it does: Protects your bandwidth and nudges others to be more intentional.
To make it work: Let your close team know about this boundary and give it a couple of weeks to bed in. At first, some people might forget to use the right field- but consistency here makes all the difference.
2. Return From Leave to Inbox-Zero
Why: Many people fear returning to tens or even hundreds of emails after leave, so the temptation is to check regularly whilst you’re away or log-in a day early to ‘get ahead’ when you’re due back. Doing this undermines your time for deep rest and recovery. Research on recovery from workplace stress shows that psychological detachment from work outside of work hours is essential for reducing long-term burnout risk.
Out-of-Office Script:
“I am on annual leave from [start date] and returning on [return date].
Emails received during leave will not be read. If your message is urgent, please contact [colleague email]. Thank you for your understanding.”
What it does: Reinforces cultural support for proper rest and discourages guilt-checking.
To make it work: This strategy might benefit from the support of a manager or HR - some places already have a policy like this in place that hasn’t been well advertised, so double check. If such a policy exists then this can be added to the script e.g. “This is part of my organisation’s approach to supporting staff health and wellbeing.“ But if this is not a policy where you work it might be something to suggest to the Wellbeing Champions, leaders or HR.
Be aware that it ALWAYS takes time for new boundaries to be effective. I recently worked with a doctor* who tried this script for a holiday at the start of the year. It was only when she stuck to her boundaries on that first occasion (by deleting any emails received during that period and getting people to resend any that needed her attention after she returned) that colleagues took it seriously and ceased emailing her while she was away in her following periods of leave. Last time she came back to only two emails!
3. Set Up a ‘Deep Focus Day’ Auto-Response
Why: Constant inbox interruptions make deep work almost impossible. Attention studies show it can take up to 23 minutes to refocus after being interrupted. Even a quick glance at your inbox can disrupt the flow state needed for complex, creative or strategic thinking.
Script for Your Auto-Response:
“Thank you for your message. I’m currently offline for a scheduled focus day so I can dedicate time to deep work without interruption.
I’ll be back online [insert time or next day] and will respond as soon as I’m able. If urgent, please mark it as such or contact [colleague].”
What it does: Signals clear boundaries and models sustainable working habits.
To make it work: Block your diary in advance and let your team know that you're trying a ‘deep work’ experiment. Try it once a month to start with - you can always scale it up if it works. Make sure you close emails down and put your phone in a different room to do your deep work. I did this when I was writing my book and I found it so satisfying when I got into a flow-state as a result.
4. Use AI to Summarise Threads
Why: Email chains are mentally exhausting to read back and follow. They often require some mental gymnastics to track back the decisions, context and requests being made. This is exactly the type of cognitive demand that contributes to mental fatigue and decision overload.
Context Tip: Some platforms like Outlook (via Copilot) and Gmail (via Gemini) offer AI tools that summarise long email threads. This lets you get to the point without reading through every message.
Script To Reply to Your Colleagues:
“Thanks for looping me in. I’ve used an AI summary tool to catch up on the thread. If I’ve missed anything that needs direct input from me, feel free to highlight that specifically.”
What it does: Saves time and encourages clear asks.
To make it work: Practice using your platform’s summarising tool once or twice a week to build confidence. If your email provider doesn’t offer it yet, there could be a browser extension that can plug in and help.
5. Use Filters or Rules to Organise Your Inbox
Why: When emails pile into your inbox in one overwhelming list, it becomes harder to tell what’s urgent versus what’s background noise. This leads to more time spent scanning than acting. Filters help you create structure, which frees up mental bandwidth for actual decision-making and action.
Top Tip: Try Sieve filters (this is what they’re called on Protonmail, they may have a different name on your mail provider). These allow you to send newsletters, CC’d messages, or platform notifications directly into specific folders. That way, your main inbox stays clear for actionable emails.
Extra Benefit: This approach can seriously cut down the time you spend hunting for emails. With the right filters in place, important messages land exactly where you expect them - saving you from endless scrolling and inbox searches.
What it does: Creates a visual triage system so you can focus without the swirl of irrelevant or non-urgent emails.
To make it work: Block 20 minutes to create folders that reflect how you work: for example, “To Action,” “To Read,” or “Low Priority”, or “Subscriptions”, “New Referrals” and so on. Then set up rules to automatically file incoming messages. Review every so often to see what needs refining. Protonmail allows you to colour your folders too, I love this as it feels much quicker to scan for a colour than to scan for wording.
6. Set Email Work-Windows
Why: Constant checking splinters attention. Neuroscience research shows that multitasking (such as switching between inbox and other tasks) reduces productivity and increases mental fatigue. So batching email checks gives your nervous system much-needed periods of calm and means you are building the ability for sustained focus.
Footer Tip:
“To protect focus time and wellbeing, I check emails in focused windows (typically 11am and 4pm). Thank you for your patience.”
What it does: Helps others respect your rhythms and reduces reactive habits.
To make it work: Start by checking emails only three times per day for a week. If that feels good, reduce it to twice. If you’re in a reactive role, try using flags or folders to sort emails for later action.
7. Set an Out-of-Office Two Days Before You Go On Leave
Why: The last days before annual leave can be some of the most frantic, especially if your inbox is still filling up. By setting your out-of-office message two working days before your leave starts, you give yourself breathing space to wrap things up without last-minute stress. It also sets expectations early, so colleagues aren’t waiting on replies when you’re already mentally off-duty.
Script:
“Thank you for your message. I’ll be on annual leave from [insert date] and I’m currently preparing for my time away.
To give myself time to wrap things up properly, I’m limiting new requests until my return. If your message is urgent, please contact [insert colleague or generic inbox].”
What it does: Creates a buffer period so you’re not firefighting emails right up until your break starts.
To make it work: Pair this with a pinned message in your Teams status or Slack profile. That way, people see it even if they don’t email you. I’ve been managing to do this one for about a year now and it makes a huge difference to the start of my leave - I no longer feel like I’m crashing into it like a tightly wound spring, but easing myself in instead.
8. Reduce FOMO
Why: A 2024 study from the University of Nottingham found that the fear of missing out (FOMO) on work-related information contributes significantly to the tendency to check emails and messages regularly. The authors recommended that organisations actively manage the flow of digital communications for staff to reduce this. So this tip is more appropriate at an organisational level but consider how you can adapt it where you work within your team or people you regularly link in with:
Reduce FOMO-checking by:
Assigning a named person to manage internal communications
Ensuring updates are clear, relevant and not duplicated
Setting guidance on when to use email, Teams or newsletters
What it does: Helps reduce overload and creates clarity.
To make it work: Start by identifying one or two common pain points: maybe your team is drowning in newsletters or unsure which platform to check for updates. Then suggest a short pilot where a nominated person curates weekly key messages. Evaluate the impact after a month.
Try One Thing First (and Don’t Go It Alone)
If the idea of changing your relationship with your inbox feels hard then this makes sense - our frequent checking and fire-fighting are deeply ingrained habits, which are reinforced by the fact that many colleagues and clients have identical habits.
The trick is to start with just one that feels doable, to practice that one to build one healthy new habit at a time.
To strength this way forward buddy up with someone who also wants to reduce their technostress. Whether it’s a colleague, friend or fellow inbox-fatigued human, making changes alongside someone else can boost motivation and help things stick because you can have conversations that help to problem-solve sticking points and share tips.
And full disclosure: I write about these strategies not because I’ve nailed them all, but because I need them too! Even if no one reads to the end of this blog I see it as a ‘love-letter’ to my workaholic part that I can honor her deep-wish to achieve and deliver but do that in a way that doesn’t burn me out.
Want more practical tools to support your recovery from burnout? Start with my Roadmap out of Burnout Here!
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* These two client stories have been modified to protect their identify, and permission has been granted to share here.
Dr Claire Plumbly is a Clinical Psychologist and author of "Burnout: How to Manage Your Nervous System Before It Manages You." She supports high-achieving professionals to recover from burnout through effective, trauma-informed therapy tools.
Love the idea of a 'deep focus day' free of interruptions.
Some excellent tips here - Food for thought - Thank you!