How to Organise Your Emails: Top Tips for Solo Coaches

As a solo coach, managing your inbox can be overwhelming.

You’ve got client queries, invoices, marketing emails, and admin tasks all fighting for attention. It’s easy to feel like you’re drowning in emails — but you don’t need to.

With a few simple strategies, you can take control of your inbox and free up mental space for the work that matters.

Start with an Email Detox

If your inbox is overflowing, start by doing a detox. Search for marketing emails with keywords like “unsubscribe.”

Get rid of anything irrelevant or set up filters to direct these emails into a specific folder. This keeps your inbox clear and focused on important communication.

Use Aliases for Specific Purposes

Many solo coaches use one email for everything, but this can make it harder to manage your emails and make it challenging to delegate specific types of emails as your business grows.

A better approach is to set up email aliases for specific functions and purposes. For example, use one alias for invoices or bills, and another for client enquiries.

You can promote these specific emails in your marketing or when you sign up for services, which will make it easier for you to sort emails as they arrive.

Later, should you need to delegate tasks, you can simply reallocate these email addresses to shared mailboxes, without needing to change your entire system.

What’s an Email Alias?

The term alias is used to describe another name someone is known by.

In emails, an email alias is another email address you give out which will still deliver messages to your main email inbox.

Why use an Email Alias?

It’s good to use an email alias, as it can help you to identify types of emails more easily based on the email address to which they were sent.

For example, I ask my suppliers to email invoices to a ‘purchasing@’ email address, which arrives in my main inbox but as they are all sent to the same email address, I can move all invoices to be paid into a folder more easily.

This helps to keep your inbox tidy and easier to manage.

Set Up Rules and Automations

Once your inbox is organised, set up automatic rules to manage incoming emails.

For example, you can create filters/rules to move client emails into a dedicated folder automatically.

This saves you from manually sorting and ensures you never miss an important message.

If you’re using Gmail or Outlook, both of these email apps provide filters/rules and there aren’t too many steps to set these up.

Need help setting up filters/rules?

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you.

Templates for Routine Emails

Does responding to your emails feel like groundhog day? Do you find yourself typing the same responses over and over?

Save time by setting up templates (sometimes called canned responses).

Whether it’s answering FAQs or responding to new client enquiries, having a ready-made response will save you time and effort.

In Gmail, you can use template responses, and in Outlook, you can set up multiple signatures and use these as templates.

This ensures you can handle routine tasks quickly without typing everything from scratch.

Schedule Dedicated Email Time

One of the most common traps for solo coaches is constantly checking emails throughout the day.

This breaks your focus and eats up valuable time.

Instead, schedule specific times during the day to check and respond to emails. This allows you to focus on your key tasks without constant interruptions.

If something is truly urgent, people will call you — as long as you educate them properly!

Organise Emails with Labels or Folders

Once an email is dealt with, it shouldn’t live in your inbox — that’s for the ‘To Dos’.

When you have dealt with an email, use folders or labels to organise emails by action type, such as “To Reply” or “Waiting for Response.” This helps you keep track of outstanding tasks without cluttering your main inbox. Moving emails into the right folders as soon as they’re handled keeps everything tidy and manageable.

It’s Normal to Feel Overwhelmed

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your inbox, you’re not alone. 

Many solopreneurs struggle to stay on top of their emails while juggling client work, admin, and everything else.

But with a few adjustments — like setting up aliases, automating email sorting, and sticking to scheduled email times — you can regain control.

The key is creating systems that work for you and reduce the mental load.

Final Thoughts

By implementing these tips, you’ll find managing your inbox becomes less of a chore. 

Start with an email detox, set up aliases and rules to keep things organised, and create templates to save time.

Don’t let your inbox overwhelm you — take control today and free up more time for your coaching.