Clearing a pile of admin B1
Inbox heaving, paperwork stacked up, time to plough through the boring bit.
sift through C1 — examine carefully (especially a large amount of information or things)A: How did you manage to find that old photo?
B: I had to sift through boxes of family albums, but it was worth it.
deal with — handle a problemA: The washing machine broke again.
B: Ugh, I'll deal with it after dinner.
write up — to write a report or article using notes you made earlierA: Did you finish your science experiment?
B: Yes, now I just have to write up my results for the teacher.
Where to start
A: I've got to sift through about two hundred emails before I do anything else.
B: Grim. Just flag the ones you'll deal with later and bin the rest.
A: Good shout. Half of them are people I've already replied to anyway.
B: Always the way, isn't it.
Tidying up after
A: Right, inbox sorted. Now I just need to write up Monday's meeting notes.
B: Did you manage to deal with that invoice query as well?
A: Yeah, sorted it before lunch. I'll write it all up and call it a day.