Fortunately, a few simple strategies can transform your cluttered inbox into an organized space that ensures you never miss what matters during your stay at The Gardens at Viewpointe in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Tackling Your Spam Folder

Modern email providers do a great job of filtering out junk, so you don't need to check your spam folder daily or even often. Services like Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook automatically filter out spam and put it in a separate folder. If you're worried you might miss something, know the chances of important emails landing in the spam folder are low. This means that unless you're looking for something you're expecting that might've accidentally ended up there, you don't have to check it often. Instead, open the folder about once a month, check things to ensure you didn't miss anything and permanently delete the items inside without a second thought. Most email providers also let you mark items as "not spam" when they accidentally end up in the folder so it doesn't happen again.

Taming Your Promotional Emails

Sales alerts, coupons and newsletters constantly flow into most inboxes, seemingly multiplying every time you check your email. While you may want to see these messages and take advantage of the great deals they offer, they can overwhelm your inbox and make it harder to find important emails. The easiest way to end promotional emails is by opening them up, locating the unsubscribe button and using it to remove your email address from their database. You might also avoid the problem of promotional emails in your main inbox by setting up a dedicated email account just for shopping. A separate email address for promotions lets you browse their offerings at your leisure without interfering with your daily communications, and some email services like Gmail automatically file them in a Promotions folder for improved control.

Organizing Invoices and Bills

Managing important emails like checking account statements, bill payments and medical reminders keeps you organized and on track, as you don't want those things buried beneath a deluge of ads and offers. Flagging and starring lets you mark certain email addresses as important, shooting them to the top of your inbox when they arrive. Using folders and labels also helps when organizing your communications. For instance, you might create folders for filing things like:

• Bills and Invoices
• Medical Appointments
• Travel Plans
• Family and Friends

Once you set up these folders, you can manually move the emails you receive into them to keep your inbox clutter-free. If you're tech-savvy, you can create filters or rules that automatically sort your emails as they arrive. In Gmail, you click the gear icon, select See All Settings and create new filters by using the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab. Outlook also lets you add filters by going to Settings, choosing Mail and selecting Rules.

Deleting and Archiving Emails

Once you've paid a bill, confirmed an appointment or otherwise dealt with the email, you can either delete it or archive it to save space in your email account. In the case of bills where you might need to reference the email later on, archiving just removes the email from your inbox while keeping it close at hand.

Using Email Apps for Smartphones

Even if you use your desktop or laptop to access useful websites, having email apps on your smartphone lets you check messages while you're on the go so you don't miss anything. Many email providers enable multiple account management from a single place, and they feature user-friendly ways to organize your messages. Some, like Gmail, even let you know when you haven't interacted with certain emails and prompt you to unsubscribe so you stop receiving them.

Some of the most popular email apps include:

• Gmail for Android and Apple
• Outlook for Android and Apple
• Yahoo Mail for Android and Apple
• Aqua Mail for Android only

Stress-Free Inbox Management for Seniors

Don't let your inbox overwhelm you — take control of your communications by using filters and keeping emails organized. These tips help you stay on top of your emails from friends, keep all your medical appointments and find great shopping deals. So go ahead and clean out your inbox and enjoy the peace of mind a blank screen brings, knowing your essential communications stay tucked away right where you need them.