{"id":2934,"date":"2022-12-09T12:13:13","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T12:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/project.co\/?p=2934"},"modified":"2024-06-14T09:46:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T09:46:36","slug":"inbox-zero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/project.co\/inbox-zero\/","title":{"rendered":"What is inbox zero – and is it possible to get there?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last updated on 14th June 2024<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Email dominates the world of communication.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n <\/i>Statistic\n<\/div>\n
\n 55% <\/strong>of people primarily use email to communicate with their clients and 31%<\/strong> use email to communicate with their colleagues. \n
\n Source: <\/strong>Project.co Communication Statistics <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

So why does it feel so overwhelming? So unproductive? So chaotic?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Truth is, email has become an ugly habit. Once upon a time, people checked their (physical!) <\/em>mailboxes once – in the morning, or when the post arrived.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern studies suggest we check our inbox – the digital equivalent – around 15 times per working day, or every 37 minutes<\/strong> on average. It disrupts our work, breaks into our \u2018flow\u2019 state and often stops us from focusing on what\u2019s really important on our to-do list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inbox zero <\/strong>was coined as a model to overcome this, harnessing the full potential of email and using other tools and processes to finally make it work for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is inbox zero?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Inbox zero\u2019 is a term coined by productivity expert Merlin Mann, who wrote the book \u201cInbox Zero: Cutting Through the Crap to Do the Work That Matters.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was described as \u2018revolutionary\u2019 by The New Yorker<\/a> and saw Mann given the platform to stage a Google Tech talk<\/a>, but the concept has been quite widely misunderstood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some have interpreted inbox zero as the idea that you should treat your inbox as a sort of \u2018to-do\u2019 list – with each email needing to be addressed, actioned and filed or deleted before the end of each day. That you should, in essence, empty your inbox – get it down to zero – every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Mann himself pointed out years later that the zero referred not to an empty inbox, but \u201cthe amount of time an employee\u2019s brain is in (their) inbox.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, it isn\u2019t necessarily a case of emptying your inbox at the end of every day – although this would be great – but rather, finding ways to seriously reduce the influence email exerts over your working time and task list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So…should you go inbox zero?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As with any model or philosophy, people have debated the pros and cons of inbox zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some have adopted the \u2018literal\u2019 interpretation, aiming for an \u2018empty inbox\u2019 and feeling that this gives them peace of mind that everything is dealt with, with nothing slipping between the cracks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others who adopt this interpretation feel that it\u2019s unrealistic and dismiss the idea altogether. They argue passionately that it\u2019s fundamentally unachievable to do everything and will hurt productivity rather than helping it. Some argue that spending time in email is a necessity rather than a choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our take is quite simple.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n

\n <\/i>Our Insight\n<\/div>\n
\n If you can <\/em>work towards an empty inbox every day, you should. If you can\u2019t, you should still use the principles of inbox zero to attempt to reduce your reliance on this flawed, imperfect tool.\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Eliminating email altogether is a bridge too far, although it would probably help. It\u2019s far too entrenched as a communication tool to expect people to dump it completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But email shouldn\u2019t be the be-all and end-all of your work management.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And inbox zero is a healthy step towards reducing your reliance – and time spent – on email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8 steps to get to inbox zero<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So let\u2019s talk specifics. How do you get there? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Triage your existing inbox<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first step is a decluttering of the emails you already have – which can seem overwhelming, particularly if you\u2019ve let things get on top of you in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is all about being decisive to the point of brutality<\/strong>. Whichever email client you use will probably have some sort of filtered search function where you can identify emails that are old, already dealt with, and generally unlikely to require any further action or response. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if you\u2019re a Gmail user, click the dropdown arrow on the search bar and you\u2019ll get a range of options to find emails that are ready to be deleted. Let your email tool do the heavy lifting for you. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This will avoid the awkwardness of picking through every individual email and making a decision on every single one. Remember, if you delete something important – likelihood is, somebody is gonna chase it at some point anyway, so don\u2019t \u2018horde.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Start to triage new <\/em>emails.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now, once you\u2019re on top of your existing emails, you need to change the way you deal with the incoming stuff.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Merlin Mann describes the actions available as being (quite confusingly) 4 D\u2019s, and one R!. They are:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n Delete<\/strong> – if it\u2019s clearly junk, get rid
Delegate<\/strong> – if it can be dealt with by somebody else, forward and archive\/delete
Respond <\/strong>– in some cases, it\u2019s common courtesy to at least acknowledge receipt and advise what\u2019s next. Do this immediately and don\u2019t leave tedious replies on your \u2018to-do\u2019 list, or worse, let it stop you actioning the email.
Defer<\/strong> – if it can wait, set up an action point in your task list for a future date, and move on.
Do <\/strong>– if you can action the whole email and get the whole thing, plus any associated jobs, out of your in-tray in 2 minutes or less, do it as soon as you read it.\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

3. Keep your email program closed most of the day<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now that we have a tidier inbox – and a system for dealing with incoming messages – we need to try and break the reliance on email throughout the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We mentioned in the introduction to this article that most people check their emails 15 times a day<\/strong> – this just isn\u2019t good for productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So break away from the constant interruption of popup emails by turning off alerts, and resisting the temptation to check your inbox away from specified periods.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n <\/i>Expert Tip\n<\/div>\n
\n Check your inbox at approved times that work for you – first and last thing, plus after lunch, perhaps. And when you do, remember to triage it properly – delete, delegate, respond, defer or do.\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

4. Use a project management tool<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Email is an effective way for people to reach you – but let\u2019s be clear: it\u2019s deeply flawed as a way to manage projects, tasks and project communication. Not only is information badly siloed<\/a> in private inboxes, it\u2019s just so easy for tasks to be missed, and becomes impossible for teams to get visibility<\/a> over who\u2019s working on what, when.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re using your inbox, email flags, and other fiddly functionality to manage your day, stop it right now(!) and look into trying out a project management system as a matter of urgency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A project management system<\/a> allows you to keep all projects in one place…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Project<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

…with tasks assigned to dates and people, with clear visibility across your team…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"List<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, in theory, let\u2019s say you receive an email which suggests doing an audit of your website content. Previously, you might have flagged that, left it for later, added it to a paper to-do list, and watched helplessly as new emails came in like an unstoppable deluge, burying the work and ensuring your content remains very much unaudited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using a project management tool – and some of the pointers we\u2019ve outlined already – you could instead:<\/p>\n\n\n\n