Inbox Zero - a Powerful Tool.
A while ago the internet was all a blaze of why you should practise inbox zero. It became a fad that stressed more people than it probably helped as it added yet another thing to their growing to-do list.
However, there is a good reason for carrying out this practice and that reason is freedom and peace. I've been doing it for a couple of years now, both privately and with my work email, and it has changed the way I feel about email completely.
I'm not here to give you a lecture, but instead, I'll provide you with a step by step guide to firstly attaining that elusive inbox zero, no matter how many emails you currently have and then secondly how to maintain that newly peaceful inbox of yours in my next post.
Decide on a goal for the session (i.e. time spent or number of emails dealt with).
You've decided to actually do it, tackle that wild inbox of yours, but the task seems daunting, right?! Luckily, there's no need to feel defeated even before beginning the task. Instead, break it into manageable goals. You can structure these goal based on two elements: the time you have available or the number of emails in your inbox.
Your goals may look like this: Spend 1 hour every day going through inbox until it's empty or Tackle 150 (or any other number of) emails every day until inbox is empty. Try not to stretch out the process too far. 2-3 days would be the longest I would stretch it. And if you can dedicate some serious time and get it done in a day - more power to you - that is the optimal solution.
You may find that you get through your goal for the day and still feel 'in the zone' - if so just carry on for as long as you feel like it. I did and managed to work my way through all my emails in two slightly long sessions.
Work backwards
I had emails going back as far as 4 years in my inbox, there was a lot to tackle. But instead of doing what may seem the most obvious, that is beginning with the emails you received today - do the exact opposite. You'll find that working your way from your oldest to your newest email is a lot easier than the other way around. Your old emails aren't very likely to demand any action from you and will provide you with momentum for when you reach emails that may require more from you.
Delete, delete, delete
The delete button is your new best friend. Those 4-year-old emails in my inbox - not many were allowed to hang around, if you haven't looked at them in years, chances are you will never need to.
Use labels, filters and folders for your emails
These features vary a bit from one email client to another, but every client I know of has a way for you to filter and file your emails. There are a lot of recommendations out there for which folders you should have, but to me, this is highly individual. So instead of giving you a definitive list, I'll give you a tip instead: look for trends. I have a folder called newsletters because I get some newsletters with really good info that I want to keep on hand, not every newsletter goes into the folder (as they would if I applied a filter), only the ones I actively choose to save. Another trend in my (personal) inbox is work related emails. So I have a folder dedicated to each job I have.
Don't reply now
This is slightly controversial advice since most would tell you to deal with each email once and then be done with it. I, however, personally find it much more effective to batch the emails that need responses or actions and save them for a later time. This way your flow doesn't get interrupted.
Deal with the emails that require action
Once you've deleted and filed everything away and the only emails remaining in your inbox are the ones that require some kind of action on your behalf you should pause and congratulate yourself. You've made it this far and only have the final stretch left.
I would recommend you deal with the toughest emails first - eat that frog and get on with it. But if you need a little momentum, then go ahead and deal with the easier ones and then work your way up to the more difficult ones. By the end of this, you will have achieved inbox zero.
Achieving inbox zero is only half the battle though. If you go through these steps only to continue in your old ways it won't be long before you have a massively cluttered inbox again. In the next post, I'll share 5 steps to maintain that sought after inbox peace.
Great report and infor, thank so much @frugallady
Sage advice, I use many email addresses on a daily basis and I don't like to keep junk in my inbox. My question is for those 'have to keep' documents do you backup your emails to a secure place, or two?
In a way, yes, if they are absolute-must-keep-for-ever-and-ever-amen, I send them to my husband's email. But in all honesty, I rarely get any of those. We have a separate system in Denmark called E-Boks, where all important papers are sent to and stored. The bank, hospital, state, university etc. all use that.
Such good advice. I used to have hundreds if not thousands of emails in my two inboxes (business and personal). I would generally look at the mails as they came in but NOT deal with them! So they just mounted up.
Now I'm rather of the one-touch persuasion - open it, read it, then either file it, delete it or deal with it. Do not close it for another time
I now try, as far as possible (and steemit permitting), to clear both my inboxes everyday before I go to bed. And occassionally I sleep 😉
You are a funny man sir.
I am of the one touch persuasion too once the inbox has been cleared initially.
Oh and thank you, to both you and @overthewait. :)
Very interesting article indeed :-)
Thank you.
Very nice artical
good advice
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