Inbox zero is too much work

Yesterday, I surpassed the number of 10.000 unread emails in my mailbox. Some people might think this is a sign of bad email hygiene. Nothing is further from the truth. Let me explain you my system.

Inbox zero

The classical "inbox zero" method tells you to:

• delete
• delegate
• respond
• defer
• do

That's too much work in my book. The way I work goes like:

• ignore (by scrolling by, deleting takes effort so I don't do that - this is +/- 80%)
• forward/reply (that's right: this is the delegate/respond part)
• do (if it can't be done in < 5 minutes, it goes to the agenda - yes I use that one as my to do list as well)

I realize I'm doing exactly the same as the "inbox zero" method promotes. But I am using a much simpler technological way to identify the actionable messages.

I never delete an email. I never tag or classify an email. I never use email folders. I never use priorities.

My system is very simple. I regard email as a message stream passing by. I start reading the stream at the most recent message that is marked as read. All older messages are by definition ignored, I consider them my archive. Reading the stream = reading the titles. I only open about 20% of the emails.

2 mailboxes does the trick

I have 2 email boxes: private and work. Actually, it's not private and work. The private mailbox receives informational and conversation email: mailings, status updates, notifications, account registrations, etc. The work mailbox receives actionable email: questions from people, reports sent to me, meeting requests, etc.

Let's illustrate with my private mailbox as an example:

You will notice that most of the messages in this inbox are machine-generated. This is why I use 2 mailboxes: The informational / conversational mail requires a different approach from the actionable mail.

When we look at the actionable ("work") mailbox, it looks a little different:

If the message is "read", it means it is handled. If I still need to do something with a message, I keep it unread. There are never more then a few unread messages in my inbox. They are never more then a few days old. (in fact, right after taking this screenshot, I handled the unread message). Again, if it takes more then 5 minutes, it goes to my private agenda.

So the only difference in handling my work mailbox as opposed to my private mailbox is that I make sure every message gets marked as read. I don't actually read all those mails, to me it just means "this is processed". In my private email, the fact that there is an email marked as read to me means all emails below it are considered processed. The reason for this different behavior is that the percentage of mail that requires action is much higher in my work mailbox then in my private mailbox. It is just a different visual  clue to identify what messages still need action.

Mobile changes the game: stop doing the check-twice-a-day thing

One thing to realize is that since we got direct push mail on our mobiles, it has actually become much easier to follow the message stream of emails. As long as you keep the hygiene mentioned above (read email = handled email) you can check email throughout the day whenever suits you (in boring meetings, in the elevator, in the kitchen, etc.).

I didn't check my email whilst writing this article. But I will mark a couple emails as read before switching to the next activity on my agenda. This is not endangering my productivity, since it doesn't interfere with a task.

Therefore, I discourage the practice of reading email only twice a day. It causes other people to retry their communication with less efficient technological means (phonecalls, or -God forbid- voicemail) which means in the end we all lose.

Check your messages and do it regularly, whether you call it email, twitter or MSN.