Today is Friday, is your inbox empty?
Can you claim the coveted title of “Inbox Zero?”
Maybe not.
But, how about this… could you get your Inbox to Zero for just this work week?
Leave the Week with Inbox Zero
You may be like many others and have hundreds (if not thousands) of email messages sitting in your inbox.
It is an avalanche of communication that seems to just keep growing. You have tried diligently to get “caught up.” You have even considered declaring email bankruptcy. (And simply deleting or filing all your emails and starting over…)
Today, I have a better suggestion.
Instead of worrying about your email backlog, concentrate on the present. Don’t try to empty your entire inbox. Rather, empty it for this current work week.
“Getting to Inbox Zero for the current work week can give you great peace heading into your weekend.” (Tweet Quote)
What peace of mind would you have, if you got to InBox Zero for this week?
Email Zero for THIS Week
So, set a goal for yourself today to empty your inbox back to Monday of this week.
Here are some tips to help you get your email to zero for this week:
- Start with Today and Work Backwards – I find it more efficient to work backwards in your inbox. You will be surprised how many email threads resolve themselves. Or maybe, updated information has been sent since the original message.
- Group Emails by Conversation – Make sure your email app groups emails by “conversation.” This keeps all related emails together and makes it much quicker to process a bunch of related messages. Your iPhone probably does this automatically. However, if your office uses Outlook, make sure you set your desktop email to group by “conversation.”
- Get Todos Out of Your InBox – Many people leave “action” emails in their inbox until they have completed them. Resist the urge to use your inbox as your todo list. Instead, get those tasks out of your inbox and onto your actual todo list.
- Respond, Archive, Delete – Be swift and deliberate when processing your email. Respond, archive, or delete. If you touch an email make sure you do something with it. Don’t put read emails back in your inbox.
- Schedule Time with Your Email – Make time to work your inbox. It may require making an appointment with your email so that you have scheduled time to whittle down those emails.
Once you get back through Monday’s emails… stop.
You are clear for this week. Wow. Inbox Zero for this week.
You can now start your weekend knowing that you don’t have any critical emails that you missed from this week.
Empty Inbox = Peace of Mind
Today, work your inbox back to Monday. Get to Inbox Zero for the week.
Ending your week with the knowledge that you are caught up on your email is a great feeling.
Do this each week… and you just might start a streak of Inbox Zero for yourself.
Question: Can you get your inbox to zero for this work week before starting your weekend? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
This is a great way to start Craig. Trying to address emails that go back more than a week can be so daunting that most of us would keep putting it off forever! As you said in your webinar, this will create the momentum we need to make inbox zero a habit.
I used to scoff at the Idea of Inbox Zero, but now I’m there nearly every day! Only took me about half a day to get there the first time. Anything older than 6 moths was automatically archived. And like you said, dealing with most recent emails first is best as many of them are ongoing threads.