About inbox zero

[MariesCondo]

Everyday I end the day with no unread emails. I either deal with an email immediately so it requires no further action or I put what needs to be done on my to do list for the day I will deal with it. I have worked full time in a demanding job for 15 years and this is how I have always worked. I have the same approach to my personal emails.

A friend has told me this is odd. Is it? I don’t understand what other way there is to function! 😆

It’s not odd, but nor is it the only way to function. It depends what works for you.

I'm exactly the same. An inbox full of unread emails makes me feel panicky!

'Hi there! I'm absolutely fabulous at task management and would like to disingenuously point out that I can't understand why everyone else isn't. I'll even add a fun emoji to show that I'm not bragging! Tra la la!'

I wish I could do that.

1200 unread in personal email
430 in work!

You'd hate my emails, currently have 828 unread ones sitting in my inbox!

@chunderwunder

'Hi there! I'm absolutely fabulous at task management and would like to disingenuously point out that I can't understand why everyone else isn't. I'll even add a fun emoji to show that I'm not bragging! Tra la la!'

Well indeed.

My inbox is my to-do list. I delete anything every morning that doesn't need attention, the rest get dealt with as and when. That means some might stay there for days or weeks.

I have zero in my Gmail because I don't get much, maybe 2-3 a day which are either bookings so I mark as read and file or junk which I delete immediately. School stuff I read and delete immediately.

What do you do on days where there are more emails than you can read and deal with even if you work late?

@chunderwunder

'Hi there! I'm absolutely fabulous at task management and would like to disingenuously point out that I can't understand why everyone else isn't. I'll even add a fun emoji to show that I'm not bragging! Tra la la!'

👆

It’s not odd. It’s what people who can’t stand mental clutter do. Lots of others don’t mind never catching up.

I’ve cleared about 40,000 emails this month, and I’ve got a little more to go to clear it completely down to important ones only. After that I’ll be sticking to a daily routine of read/file/delete to always be completely caught up like I used to be years ago before I got ill and let it get away from me.

It’s OK OP. I have thousands of unread emails. Sometimes people send me shit I’m not obliged to read and don’t feel stressed to read/delete or action. I’m perceived as highly organised, although I don’t always feel that way Neither of us are “winning” and there isn’t a Brownies badge for tidiest Inbox. We are just different

I curenenly have [checks] 2694 Unread work emails and [checks] 12,669 in my personal Gmail account.

I've scanned all (most?) of them, opened and dealt with the ones I need to open and deal with. When I've got some time spare, I might check what I haven't opened and prune (for example, if I haven't opened a particular newsletter or emails from a ceratin person, I'll unsubscribe/block).

OP
I'm on leave at the moment, and dreading going back to work. I have about a thousand unread emails.

Thing is, I have numerous appointments each day. I'm basically a one person department with a great deal of responsibility for resources.

I just don't know how to organise it all without working numerous hours at home.

I am really interested in finding out how to work smarter

Just to add --- it's not mental clutter. I don't hold these things in my head, I hold them in my Inbox.

I eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. I drink 2 litres of water a day and run 5k every morning. I also do yoga and meditate before I sleep. I cook fresh everyday using organic ingredients. I volunteer at the homeless centre 3 days a week and the food bank the remaining 4, this is despite being very senior in a demanding full time job. My friend mentioned this is a bit much but how else is everyone else living their lives?????

I have four different email accounts.

One way of organising things

1. School
2. Shopping
3. Appeal (legal and complaints)
4. Health

I'm not able to do paid work at the moment but with this method I prioritise things that are crucial to organising.
For example during term time I would check school email but not in holidays.

If I don't have any legal matters or health matters going on then these become less important.

Shoppiing for deliveries especially useful in lockdowns and when working from home.

All four have junk mail coming through which I ignore.

I have no unread emails in my work or personal inboxes. It's my first job of the day, switch on the laptop and read all the emails that come in after hours, I deal with any I need to and then get on with the rest of my work. Any that come in during the day get dealt with as and when

@chunderwunder

'Hi there! I'm absolutely fabulous at task management and would like to disingenuously point out that I can't understand why everyone else isn't. I'll even add a fun emoji to show that I'm not bragging! Tra la la!'

This

@VladmirsPoutine

I eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. I drink 2 litres of water a day and run 5k every morning. I also do yoga and meditate before I sleep. I cook fresh everyday using organic ingredients. I volunteer at the homeless centre 3 days a week and the food bank the remaining 4, this is despite being very senior in a demanding full time job. My friend mentioned this is a bit much but how else is everyone else living their lives?????

This is commendable but don't know if I could do it.

Do you have kids? I find life with a child or young people is quite unpredictable. I organise what i can but try to leave room for new things coming up. Also change happens, especially with Covid.

I have just over 43,000 unread emails!!! I think it is too late to deal with them now!

I work on the principle of inbox infinity. Not inbox zero. An IT guy told me there was no need to put things in folders (unless you really want to) and searching for items is always changing and adapting. Pretty sure we'll end up tagging emails in the future.

My inbox is also my to do list. I flag for follow up and drag and drop into calendar, tasks or notes.

Other people always say to me that I'm very organised so inbox zero is only one way of doing it.

My DH works on inbox zero - it's quite interesting the amount of times (for home/school stuff) he has to ask me because he's already "dealt with and deleted" the email!

Different ways of working that's all. As long as it works for you that's fine.

I do have various rules set up and many emails never even hit my inbox due to the rules! I sort those folders out periodically.

All read daily. Apart from junk mail!
I don't get that many, maybe a few a day personal (I heavily filter to junk mail) and about 50-70 a day at work

Also I don't sync my phone and emails in an effort to reduce screen time.

I have 51,642 unread emails in my account. I check it daily but it's mostly full of junk.

@Florabella

I have just over 43,000 unread emails!!! I think it is too late to deal with them now!

I had about 46,000 a few weeks ago. Way too many, way too much clutter in my mind! My fault entirely for signing up to marketing emails/newsletters...

It feels really good to have it almost all cleared.

On a bad day I could receive well over 100 emails. If I stopped to determine the action for each one at 2 min per email I would lose hours of work time. It was usually possible to tell at a glance if it was a drop everything or handle later email.
I do a highly paid job in the City and very few people I know ever had inbox zero.