5 ways to make Inbox Zero An Actual Thing for you

I find it REALLY stressful having a backlog of emails in my inbox - I feel eaten up with guilt at not getting back to people, anxious about admin that needs to be tended to that's lurking in there, and certain that some request is going to jump up and bite me on the ass - either a deadline I miss or an awesome opportunity that has now expired.

Given my track record as a reasonably organised person (and author of Get Remarkably Organised), vanquishing my email demons has been a constantly improving practice over the years.

Getting to Inbox Zero is a moment of sweet reflection for me - the dust has been cleared out, everyone has their responses and I am firmly back in proactive mode.

In one of my past lives, Inbox Zero was a daily goal.  Now with a much more varied daily schedule (writing one day, running a workshop the next), it’s more of a twice-a-month situation - which for me is regular enough for me to feel on top of my inbox.

Here are the five tried-and-tested methods  I employ to nail Inbox Zero as quickly and calmly as possible.

STEP 1 - SCHEDULE EMAIL PROCESSING TIME

I like to think of myself “processing” my inbox.  It’s a simple reframe, however it kicks me into a much more ruthless, efficient, email machine when I think of it like that and not “dealing with” or “replying” to my inbox.  I’ll give myself a set amount of time, at the end of which I need to be at Inbox Zero. My phone is on silent, my inbox is paused and it’s game on. Processing time will vary for each individual, however I can usually clear 100 emails in two hours when I have no distractions.

STEP 2 - TOUCH EMAILS ONCE

If you take away one tip from this post, make it this one.  

Often we double, triple or even quadruple handle our emails - we open them, read then a second time, forward them to someone else, then read them again, and make a mental note to file them later. It then languishes in our inbox, stressing us out each day until we finally deal with it.

Try touch your emails just ONCE - when you open one, apply one of these four actions immediately:

1. Archive it straightaway as it doesn’t require a reply
2. Forward it on to someone else to deal with
3. Reply straightaway if a reply can be managed in a couple of minutes,
4. If it requires a longer reply or an action to be completed (e.g: for you to review and provide feedback on a document), add it as an action to your to do list and archive the email

STEP 3 - FORGET FILING, JUST ARCHIVE

The vast majority of us are using Gmail as our email provider, and Outlook also offers an archive option.  In days of yore, I used to create dozens of folders within my email and painstakingly file each individual email into said folders.  This is a CHRONIC over-investment of time. Hitting the archive button (or swiping right on the Gmail app) tidies them away and I can easily find them again just be typing in a few search terms, or the name of the sender.

STEP 4 - KEEP RESPONSES SHORT

Aiming for brevity in our replies saves time for us the writer, but also for the readers they’re destined for.  Where possible, keep replies to 2-3 paragraphs max, be liberal with the use of bullet points and keep waffle to a minimum.  Be super clear in what you are requesting/informing the other person. If this feels weird or rude to you, feel free to copy and paste a disclaimer like this as you open your email: “Please excuse me keeping this to the point, I’m on a mission to clear my inbox by COP today!”.

STEP 5 - NEVER, EVER, EVER USE YOUR EMAIL AS YOUR TO DO LIST

This is a fool’s game, people!  Maintaining your inbox as a list of reminders of stuff you need to do is a sure way of guaranteeing you never get to the Inbox Zero happy place.  If you’re holding on to an email as an action item, instead transfer it to your paper/digital to do list and archive the email. You can dig it out again quickly when you get to that action on your list.

That’s it - you’re at Inbox Zero!  Kick back, have a fancy coffee and bask in your wondrousness.  

Just don’t - for the love of God - hit Refresh...

Lorraine Murphy is an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker and the best-selling author of Get Remarkably Organised and Remarkability, She runs Get Remarkably Organised for Teams workshops for medium to large organisations, to help groups switch from reactive mode (overwhelmed, stressed, scattered) to proactive mode (clear, focused, productive).