There is a joke that there are two types of people: those that have no unread notifications and those who have thousands of them. Same goes for emails in your inbox. For the longest time, I have had precious few emails sitting in my inbox, whether read or not. I just read the, acted on them and once done, filed them away. Not so long ago, I learned that what I was doing is called Inbox Zero.
What is inbox zero?
Inbox zero is the idea of keeping your inbox either empty or nearly empty all the time. The idea is to either take care of it right now or file it away accordingly. For example, if it’s something you need to handle the following week, you may have a folder with that week’s dates and put emails to be handled at that time there or you could forward it to yourself with the delayed send, using the date you need to work on it as a delivery date. Your inbox would end up containing only items that have just come in or that you need to deal with urgently.
It sounds like a noble goal, doesn’t it? Please remember it’s a tool, not a goal. It doesn’t assume you handled all of your emails. It just means that you classified it as something and put it in its place. It actually stands in opposition to the idea that you should look at emails only once and open them only when you are able to take care of whatever they are about. Both of these are tools in your productivity belt and you should choose the ones that work best for you.
How does it help with time management?
Reduces email-related stress
Seeing all those emails waiting for you is stressful and can cause anxiety. I know that when I see all those emails waiting for me to handle them, it’s like each of them is its own guilt trip screaming ‘take care of me! Me! Me! Now! Now! Now!’ Not having all those emails sitting right there, every time I look at my inbox makes me feel more in control of the situation.
Improved focus
All those little anxiety-inducing screams from the previous points are also extremely distracting. It’s a little like what I mentioned when talking about starting my day with clearing all the small things from my to-do list: every item in front of you consumes some of your attention. Once you clear those emails from your inbox, they are no longer there to distract you.
Increased efficiency
How often do you look through dozens of emails, trying to find that one with the information you currently need? If you keep things file properly, it takes a lot less time to retrieve information. You are also not trying to figure out what still needs to be handled, which means you are not repeating work and you are decreasing your chance of letting something slip through the cracks. With inbox zero, you can quickly tell what is what and what the status is.
Task prioritization
With inbox zero, you are no longer looking at hundreds of emails waiting to be handled and wondering which one to deal with next. Your email filing system should be designed in a fashion that at the very least will narrow down the list of tasks to be handled immediately.
Improved communication
Have I already responded to them?
If you ask yourself this question on a regular basis, you need to fix your email organization system! Once your mailbox is cleaned up, you should be able to tell if you answered or not and whether the response was ‘I will get back to you next week’ or an actual, substantial response. A lot better look for dealing with others… Use inbox zero to stay on top of your emails, putting your best professional foot forward!