For the 5th time, Google has begun its annual “Clean Out Your Inbox Week,” focusing of course on Gmail. They’ve asked a (rather personal and oftentimes embarrassing) question of email users: what’s your inbox number?

Well, it’s officially 2012. And now that we are four weeks in, it’s the perfect time to get organized so you can make the most of the year ahead.

That’s why this week, the Gmail team is taking part in the 5th annual Clean Out Your Inbox Week, a week dedicated to clearing out the clutter and getting your inbox organized. Whether you get hundreds of emails a day or just have past messages loitering in your Inbox, Clean Out Your Inbox Week is a great opportunity to do that email organization you’ve “been meaning to do.”

According to a Google+ post, the Gmail account will be posting a new tip each day this week to help you de-clutter your inbox. Today’s tip involves archiving and searching:

Archive and Search tool: Clearing out the clutter in your inbox is an important part of staying organized. But sometimes there are emails you don’t want to trash: important documents and records, things you might need for future reference, and messages with sentimental value from the people you care about. Gmail’s Archive button lets you safely tuck those emails away, clearing up space in your inbox so you can focus.

And finding them again is easy with our Search tool (made even better with Gmail’s new look!). Click the down arrow next to the Search box in your Gmail, and you quickly search your emails by recipient, sender, time, subject, or content.

Google also wants Google+ users to get in on the action by posting their own inbox cleanup tips and tricks with the hashtag #GmailCleanup.

I’m happy to report that my inbox number is currently under 100. Take that, clutter.