Email: How to Manage Your Inbox
Every.leader.is.a.reader.
I wonder if the person that came up with that phrase knew this would someday refer to the insane amount of emails one has to read in this modern age. When I started on my email journey I did what I think many people did; made some folders and every email went into one, the email being read or being flagged for still needing action.
But there came a moment when I just received too many emails to keep up with. No matter how many times I checked my email and worked through my inbox, the emails kept piling up, into the hundreds.
Knowing that I still had that many emails that needed to be read and answered disrupted my ability to concentrate and feelings of flow while doing other things besides email.
This changed when I came upon the Zero Inbox methodology by Merlin Mann. His way of looking at email and dealing with it just resonated with me. And I still use his principles to (almost always) have 0 emails in my inbox.
So how do I do that?
Step 1: Set designated times for email
This sounds simple, and it is simple. When I started to practice adhering to this principle I would block time in my agenda for email. To work through my backlog but also to communicate to myself: “do not worry about your email at this very moment, you have time dedicated to this lovely chore in your agenda”. As I gained control over my inbox I stopped blocking time in my agenda and just got into the routine of going through my email early in the morning and at the end of my working day.
I have been doing this for the past 5 years, and as long as I adhere to this Step One 80% of the time, I keep my inbox at bay.
There are some exceptions, hence the 80%. I might have a meeting at the end of the day, a morning or afternoon crisis, or sometimes I am too tired at the end of the day to go through my inbox effectively, and on those days, I skip that designated time for emails. Knowing I will pick up the slack the next day.
Also, if I am expecting an essential email, which will need action on that day, I will check my email multiple times for that email. While trying to ignore everything else entering my inbox. These are exceptions to the rule, the rule of Step 1.
Step 2: Decide for every email in the inbox
I used my email inbox, including its folders, as a messy To do list. Seeing my email inbox as a communication method instead of another to-do list really upgraded my workflow.
I would now have all my todo’s in a list (used to be google Docs, now I use Todoist), and I would not feel the pressure to work through all the actions to be found within the emails.
I also archived all my folders and decided to archive all my emails. No more wasting time deciding where each email should be archived. At the time, the company I was working with used Gmail, and finding archived emails using the search bar was just very easy. Nowadays, I am using Outlook again, it works, just not as well.
So on every email, I decide:
- Read within 2 min + archive OR reply OR forward
- Make a todo for reading it later (if it would take longer than 2 min to read, usually email with attachments)
— — I will copy-paste the subject of the email as a todo
- Make a todo for whatever action is needed
— — I will write the todo and add the subject of the email in case I would have to reply
Step 3: get comfortable with email shortcuts
Instead of using my mouse(pad) to move around my emails and send them, I practiced email shortcuts. The ones I use the most:
For Gmail:
Archive selected messages (e)
Compose ©
Reply (r)
Reply all (a)
Forward (f)
Mark current messages unread (Shift + u)
Send Email (Command + Enter)
Search for messages (/)
For Outlook:
Create a new message. Ctrl+Shift+M
Send a message. Alt+S
Search for an item. Ctrl+E or F3
Reply to a message. Alt+ R
Forward a message. Alt+ F
Select the Reply All option. Alt+A
Archive email: backspace
For those wanting more information on Inbox Zero from Merlin Mann himself:
