With These 2 Simple Steps, You’ll Conquer the Final Boss of Time Management
Your Email Inbox (and all without AI)
Defeating this final boss is the key to successful time management.
Emails are essentially the Bowser of distractions. They’re always there. They always address us personally. And they subtly convey the feeling that we must respond immediately. Resistance seems futile.
To not accept this, I work with a simple two-step system. With it, I’ve reduced the impact of emails on my life to a bearable minimum.
In this article, I describe exactly how anyone can implement these steps.
And you can start today.
At the end, I’ll reveal three pro tips that make life with emails even easier.
Let’s get started.
There are many weapons in the fight against emails.
More and more YouTube videos show how to filter and clean your inbox with the help of AI.
I like AI and its possibilities. But I prefer to decide for myself which email is important and which is not. To keep track, many also work with the unread function or with tags. Sorting emails into different folders is another option.
I’m not a fan of any of these options.
Especially a folder structure is unnecessary. Search functions in email programs and operating systems are constantly improving. Any email can be found in seconds with a keyword, the sender, or a date. No matter in which folder it is saved.
Folders are a pure waste of time.
The books by David Allen, Cal Newport, and Tiago Forte are not a waste of time. From their ideas and thoughts, I have filtered the best tips and cast them into a form suitable for me. This system always works.
Even without fixed times for processing emails.
It’s that simple:
Step 1 — Everything must go to the archive!
In my daily life, I can be reached via four different email addresses, all come together in Apple Mail.
Two addresses are from the private sector, two from my 9–5 job. My activity as a ghostwriter will probably soon require a fifth email address. So the term final boss really applies to me. I had days when a mass of emails flooded my inbox and made productive work impossible.
So a clear cut was needed.
On a Sunday afternoon, I answered all the still open emails. Then I moved all the inboxes to the archive of the respective email addresses. The result was an empty inbox.
What a fantastic feeling!
All worries about losing an email are completely unfounded at this step. When moving an email to the archive, it is actually only hidden. It can be retrieved in seconds using the already mentioned search function.
One might also believe that deleting is better than archiving to save storage space. But this thought is not correct.
In today’s times, we don’t need to save storage space. It is almost unlimitedly available for a few euros or dollars a month. So information should always be stored in the archive and is thus always available.
I know from my own experience that this first step requires overcoming and also time.
The archives are not always easy to find with the various providers. Gmail, for example, has no archive folder. Archived emails only have the “Inbox” label removed. If an archive folder is not directly displayed in an email program, a short Google search may be necessary.
All open emails must also be answered beforehand or at least noted in the to-do list as still to be answered. This can also take time in some cases.
But this work is definitely worth it. An empty inbox is an indescribably good feeling, see for yourself:
This step is really the famous game-changer.
Step 2 — The inbox must stay clean!
Unfortunately, the great feeling of an empty inbox does not last long.
Of course, the final boss immediately tries to dump his trash in it again. To remove new emails from the inbox as quickly as possible, I follow a simple method.
It’s always the same method consisting of 4 actions:
1.Is there a need for action?
Need for action means, do I have a task to do because of an email. These tasks can be:
- Respond to the email.
- Save the information from the email for later use.
- Archive attachments.
- Enter appointments from the email into the calendar etc.
2.No need for action? Archive the email immediately.
You would hardly believe how many emails not require a direct reaction:
- Newsletters
- Conversations in cc
- Advertisements
- Credit card information etc.
For this type of email, there is only one way: Out of sight, out of mind.
Straight to the archive!
3.If there is a need for action, complete short tasks directly.
David Allen says to complete all tasks under 2 minutes directly.
The tip is great, but I don’t stick exactly to this time specification. But I complete all emails immediately, for which I don’t have to invest mental work. Whether it takes me 1, 2, or 5 minutes:
- Enter or confirm appointments
- Short answers that do not generate a new discussion
- Archive attachments in the right place etc.
I do such things instantly. And when they are done? Exactly — off to the archive with the processed mail!
4.Complete more complex tasks when there is time.
Emails that have made it this far, require silence and more time for processing.
90% of the time, I link these emails to the inbox of my to-do app (I use Apple’s Reminders, more on that later). Sometimes I also let my mail program remind me of an email at a certain time, or I set a time window in the calendar for answering. The important thing is that these emails are then moved to the archive.
The inbox must always remain empty!
Tips and Tricks
It’s not always easy to consistently follow this strict routine at the beginning. These tips will make your life a little easier:
Pro Tip 1 — Unsubscribe from Newsletters.
This tip is very unspectacular, but damn important.
Each of us receives numerous newsletters by email every day — some subscribed to years ago. Ignoring uninteresting newsletters or deleting them right away is naturally easier than taking the time to unsubscribe from the newsletter.
But I can only advise everyone to do this work.
I have done it, and the result is impressive. My incoming emails have reduced by 50% or more.
Those few minutes are definitely worth it!
Pro Tip 2 — Shortcut for moving an email to the archive.
Quickly removing emails from the inbox is the central point in my process.
To carry out this step as uncomplicatedly and consistently as possible, a shortcut helps incredibly much. As an Apple Mail user, I use this key combination:
Control + Command + A
For Microsoft Outlook, for example, the Backspace key is needed. Researching the appropriate key combination for your own mail program and operating system is time well spent.
Pro Tip 3 — Shortcut for Reminders (unfortunately only for all Apple users):
I link Emails for later processing in Apple’s Reminders. To implement this as simple as possible, I have created a shortcut on my MacBook:
This shortcut creates a reminder in my ToDo inbox with the link to the selected email via key combination. This is the script for the shortcut:
Once created, you never want to miss this shortcut as a MacBook user!
Summary
Here is an overview of the individual steps:
Step 1 — Everything must go to the archive for a good start!
Step 2 — The inbox must stay clean:
- Is there a need for action?
- No need for action required? Archive the email immediately!
- If there is a need for action, complete short tasks immediately!
- Complete more complex tasks when there is time!
Of course, I’m aware that a tidy inbox is not the solution to all time management problems.
However, anyone who consistently implements this system, lowers their stress level in a hectic everyday life. Defeating the final boss conveys a damn good feeling of control and acts like balm for the soul.
It’s definitely worth a try!
Did you enjoy my article, or would you like to learn more about this topic? Let me know in the comments and feel free to follow me!
