What is Inbox Zero, and is this even possible?
The whole medium of work has shifted to the online mode so that we can continue with our work while maintaining social distancing even in the middle of this pandemic. Every day, we receive countless emails some are promotional mails, some newsletters and some are work-based. This leads to a never ending pile of unread emails. As a result, this can affect our productivity as our precious time is wasted trying to filter through these unnecessary emails. This is when Inbox Zero makes an appearance.
A creation of Merlin Mann, Inbox Zero is designed to help keep our inbox clean. He introduced Inbox Zero as an effective email marketing strategy. Speaking of the creator, Merlin Mann is a man who is a productivity expert. According to him, the name Inbox Zero is a reference to how little time the users of this software will need to manage their inbox.
The concept of using Inbox Zero is pretty simple. All you need to do for this email management strategy is to take quick action, not leaving anything for later. This doesn’t mean that you have to reply to every email or deal with them as soon as you receive it, but your aim will be to take action in order to make some progress. It is one of the easiest and best ways to manage emails.
Read the article further to know about Inbox Zero and how you can organize your emails with its help. It will help you decide what is best for your emails. You will waste less time in an attempt to manage your emails and dedicate more time to the task in hand.
Possibility for the concept of Inbox Zero –
It is very easy to achieve the aim that has been set forth by Inbox Zero. The action plan for Inbox Zero is:
1. Delete –
Always ask yourself the question “Is this email important?” before taking any action. When the answer is no, delete the email immediately and do not delay it. This helps a lot in increasing productivity. Sometimes, this can be a daunting task because there will always be a possibility of you needing the email later. The important factor here is for you to complete the job right away and not put it for later.
2. Delegate –
Another question that you can ask is if you are the right person for this email. If you think that the email concerns someone as more than it concerns you, or someone else needs to handle this task before you, then make sure that you assign it to that particular individual. As a result, people will not have to wait until you pass the work as they can start working immediately. This is also one of the best ways to manage emails and also increase productivity.
3. Respond –
Many times we leave an email on read thinking that we will reply later, never do that. If you will need only a few minutes to reply to an email, do it. It is always a smart choice to respond to the mails immediately. However, there might also be emails where you do not need to reply immediately, you can take some time before you can get back to them. Replies might also mean that you will set a deadline for your task as this might also be one of the great time management techniques for yourself. This deadline also motivates you to work and increases productivity.
4. Defer –
If you see a mail will need more than a few minutes to reply, then defer it. Keep it in the to-do list since it is not a priority and you can reply to it later. This is for those tasks which need your attention but are not a priority. Doing this is a great way to increase your productivity. You can also choose to sleep an email so that you can deal with it later.
5. Do –
If the work is less time consuming, do it now. It will help to keep your schedule clear and that is extremely important.
5. Use Email Management Softwares-
Email Management softwares like Mailman can come to your rescue and can be super helpful as it takes your inbox to zero in less than a minute.
Making sure you are not overdoing Inbox Zero –
The idea of Inbox Zero was proposed by Mann for the first time in 2007. Right now, there are a lot of different emails, including promotional, personal, work, as well as social media notifications. Things used to be a lot simpler before.
The goal of Inbox Zero is to reduce the time that you are spending in trying to arrange your emails. If you have to constantly keep receiving emails from all these random sources, then it is no wonder that your focus is broken and your time is stretched out. Allow yourself to prioritize the emails according to your needs to be more effective. However, do not use Inbox Zero as a means of not replying to mails. It is a fact established by the Microsoft researchers that not replying to emails is a sign of improper email management.
Be Careful with the clean slate approach –It can be very tempting to delete or completely wipe out all the messages in your inbox but that is a terrible idea. The social media notifications, newsletters and promotional mails are something that you can delete, but it is always a better idea to check the work emails before deleting them.
The first thing you should do to achieve Inbox Zero is to deem what is important and what isn’t. This will reduce the time that you put in email management and will also help with your time management techniques.
Keep in mind that not every approach will work for you. It will be wise to try a combination of different ideas to find out which suits you.
Conclusion
Inbox Zero in reality is a tool for time management to increase productivity. You need to use it wisely to make sure that your inbox isn’t overflowing while you still keep the important emails that you need. A gist of the approach that Inbox Zero brings to you is –
- Prioritize your emails.
- Do not overdo Inbox zero, but respond to important emails and keep the less important ones for later.
- Delegate a fixed time when you can check your emails.
- Do not wipe out the inbox clean.
- Follow Delete → Delegate → Respond → Defer → Do.
- Use email management software like Mailman
