Achieving Inbox Zero

Let’s see if this sounds familiar…

It’s a weekday morning, you sit down at your computer and open your Inbox. There are 30 new emails from that morning, and 50 lingering from the day before and a 100 from the week before. You start to feel anxious and overwhelmed.

You were behind when you shut down work last night, and now you’re even more behind. Where to begin when there is so much to respond to? You feel like you’ll never catch up, so you open a few easy ones, reply, maybe hop on the ones from your leadership team. But after 30 minutes or so you’re already exhausted, so you open your phone and scroll social or get another cup of coffee…sit back down and start the cycle over again.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Can you imagine looking at your Inbox and seeing zero or just a handful of messages? The peace and pride of knowing you accomplished so much? It IS possible and I’m going to share with you how I do it.

For most of my career I have been an Inbox Zero person. But then I joined my current company 8 months ago, got promoted to lead the sales team at month 7, and that’s when the wheels officially fell off. My Inbox got completely out of control. I hated feeling like I was constantly behind even though I was working my tail off. So last Friday I told myself to snap out it, put away the distractions and get back on track. I knew I could do this because I had done it before. I may have lost my way, but I could find my way back…I did. You can too.

This past week has been a daily return to Inbox Zero life and it has been SO freeing. Here are my tips on how to achieve it:

Touch It Once

It’s simple – if you open an email, you don’t move on to another task until you’ve taken action on that email. I say action because there are a few different ways to act on something in your Inbox. Here are some examples:

1. If it’s a simple reply, do it now. Hit send.
2. Is it only an FYI email that requires no action from you? Amazing! File it, archive it or delete it. Do not just let it sit there. You read it, move on.
3. If it would be better solved over a phone call (rather than generating 10 more emails of misunderstanding), pick up the phone and call that person. For anyone under the age of 40 I realize you hate talking on the phone but sometimes emails and texts just do not get it done. You can get issues resolved SO MUCH FASTER if you simply talk it out live. Bonus, people are typically much nicer and less passive aggressive over the phone than over email (and your entire department won’t be cc’d).
4. If it’s going to take you more than 15 minutes to generate your reply, block out time on your calendar for that specific email. Attach it to the invite. You can’t do it now but you took action by planning to tackle it later with laser focus.
5. Move it as a to-do in your CRM. Many of my emails don’t require an immediate response but rather a reminder to follow up in a week or two. I go log this in my CRM under the customer’s account which sets up a reminder for when that follow up is due. Now it’s properly tied to account history and I get a little ping reminder instead of emails piling up.

Don’t Check Your Inbox All Day Long

Just because your email is on your phone and available at any time, doesn’t mean you have to check it constantly. I promise you scanning your email in the Starbucks line or at a stoplight when you have no time to properly respond is just going to build up your anxiety. Stop torturing yourself. Block out times that are strictly dedicated to reading and taking action on your Inbox. For example I typically have an AM, Midday, and late PM block for taking action on my Inbox.

Define Your Stop Time

You need to make a decision in the afternoon what your stop time is going to be on email that day. Let’s say you decide at 3pm that you’re stopping at 5:30, and at 5:25 some hour long task lands in your Inbox – unless it’s an emergency, that email waits until tomorrow. You have to set limits and protect your time, no one else is going to do that for you. There will be fire drills of course, extraordinary deadlines and last minute requests. I get it. I’ve worked in design and construction for 15 years where it is not a clear cut 8-5 workday; however, those days should be exceptions and not rules IF you’re actively controlling your calendar and your productivity.

Use Tools to Protect Your Workflow

Use settings in apps on your phone and programs on your computer to keep you focused. The less distractions you have, the faster you’ll get tasks done. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. ‘Do Not Disturb’ setting on my email and/or chat boxes
2. ‘Focus’ Setting on my iPhone – when my work focus setting is on the only calls/texts that come through are from my CEO, my President, my Husband, my Parents, and the Kid’s School. Anything else can wait until I’m done focusing on the task at hand.

Autofill Folders with Third Tier Emails

Prioritize what gets your attention on your own schedule by setting up folder rules. For me, only Tier One and Tier Two emails actually land in my Inbox. Tier Three emails are non-priorities and are automatically sent to their own subfolders that I only check a few times a week. You can easily google how to create auto subfolders for whatever your email platform is. Here’s how I break down my tiers:

1. Tier One – My Immediate Team, My Leadership, My Customers
2. Tier Two – Other Business Units inside My Org, Key Industry Partners
3. Tier Three – Business Journal emails, Mass comms from brands, etc. – basically anything you’re on a subscription list for

In Summary

If you’ve read this far congrats on not giving up on the concept and proving you’ve got the focus and passion to take your power back.

Y’all, I swear YOU CAN DO THIS. It is possible if you take the time to set yourself up for success. In world that quite honestly monetizes on filling us with uncertainty and anxiety, I want you to know there are aspects of your life that you can control.

Your time, your Inbox, your priorities – YOU GOT THIS.