When was the last time you looked at your e-mail inbox and felt overwhelmed? Did you still respond to the e-mails you had to but ignore the rest? Do you feel as though your inbox is spiralling out of control?
With a badly managed inbox, your working week can rapidly move from feeling in control on Monday, worse on Tuesday, and completely out of control by Wednesday. Your productivity will follow suit – from semi-productive on Monday to completely unproductive on Wednesday.
Today can be exceptionally productive. You can clean up your inbox. Spend an hour cleaning up your inbox and your productivity will soar. Here’s how to achieve that fabled inbox zero in five easy steps:
1) Unsubscribe
Remember those newsletters you receive that you mean to read later? You’re probably not going to read them. The ones that I know I will never read, I unsubscribe from and delete. Not only will you clean up your inbox now, you will also cut down on the volume of incoming messages vying for your attention.
A really great tool to use to do this is Unroll.Me. I use it myself and it has worked wonders, reducing the incoming volume of e-mails by over 100.
2) Move and archive
If you have finished with an e-mail thread, make a label or folder for it and either move it to the folder or archive it. If you need to find it again, rely on the search tool or the search bar in your webmail app. If you’re like us and use Google Apps, just remember that Google’s business is search and the same search engine that powers web searches also powers Gmail.
In the worst case scenario, that e-mail thread will be in the folder you put it in, so you haven’t lost or deleted anything – just moved it.
3) Delete, do, delegate, defer
The Four Ds are an integral part of the Getting Things Done movement and can be applied to your inbox. The concept is that deferring something is a last resort.
When you’re cleaning up your inbox, run the e-mail through The Four Ds:
- Delete: Is it something you can delete because it doesn’t really add value? Delete it.
- Do: Is it something you can (quickly) do? Do it and strike it off the list.
- Delegate: Is it something you can (or should) delegate to someone else? Forward it, label it or move it into a folder, and archive it until there’s an update.
- Defer: Is it something you can’t delete, do, or delegate? Then – and only then – defer it.
4) Set a time
Set a specific time to read your e-mail and apply The Four Ds. Don’t look at them as they come in or it’ll affect your flow and your productivity.
Figure out what works for you. Some people spend 5 minutes every hour, some spend 20 minutes every 4 hours, some only check e-mail in the morning and before they sleep.
Personally, I do a big clean in the morning when I wake up, and during my breaks throughout the day.
5) Purge or abandon
This is the decision I was faced with before switching to The Four Ds. My e-mail inbox was a quagmire of interesting articles, relevant content, and important details. Although I felt that I wanted to purge it, I couldn’t.
I’m all for making life easier with a little technology if possible. I stumbled upon Mailbox and Sunrise. They revolutionised the way I think of e-mail and calendar, turning my productivity right around. No more staring at a full inbox every day, wondering how to tackle the backlog. I get down to inbox zero – every day.
Edward Solomon has over 30 years’ experience in project management, technical education, computer networking, web design and development and is a Digital Business Consultant for PENNInk Productions Ltd.
