Considering that the average office employee receives 121 emails each day, it’s no wonder that so many people have issues getting their email inbox under control. Even if you set up filters, labels, and folders, you still don’t aren’t able to cut down on the number of legitimate emails that arrive in your inbox each day.

Fortunately, we have six proven tactics for helping you take control of your email inbox:

1. Divert brief emails to chat tools. We all know how frustrating it is to receive single-word emails. Instead of allowing these emails to clog up your inbox, divert them to chat tools. Facebook Messenger is being used more often in the workplace to carry on brief communication, and users can download the conversation for future reference.

2. Be selective about hitting reply. As a best practice, if it’s going to take more than three emails to communicate your message, pick up the phone. This will eliminate a lot of back-and-forth emails and allow you to communicate your point faster.

3. Make time for email. Establish set times throughout the day that you will check email, such as first thing in the morning and before you leave the office for the day. Also, hold off on responding to emails until the end of the day. Scheduling time to tackle your inbox will prevent you from incessantly checking your email throughout the day. Set up an auto response to let your contacts know when they can expect to hear from you, and ask people to call you if there is a pressing issue at hand.

4. Encourage note taking.When meeting with your team to discuss the details of an upcoming project, encourage note taking. This will help to minimize the need for people to email you with follow-up questions.

5. Make your contacts aware of the various ways to get in touch with you. On your contact page, list your phone number, social media profiles, and messenger tools above your email address to encourage your contacts to use means other than email to communicate with you.

6. Delegate. If your email inbox is too overwhelming for you to handle, give someone account privileges to help manage your emails.

By being more intentional with the way that you approach email and putting these tactics into practice, you can take control of your email inbox.