Zero Out Your Email Inbox...Really!

Welcome to the third and final post in the series on how to Simplify Your Online Life. If you're just joining us and missed the past two posts, you can catch up by going to my article archive.

I'd love to know how this whole series has worked out for you and what other life simplification topics you'd like to know about, so please leave a comment at the end of the article. I read each and every one. With that, here's the third post, on how to zero out your inbox.

"Karen Leland, would you like a bigger... whatever?" Well.... I guess if I were a man, and if this was not the 74th e-mail offering me a larger package, a pill to make me hotter or $5 million in cash from the country of Zambia -- I might. But at this point, I'm going to pass.

Let's face it, the sheer amount of e-mail -- much of it ridiculously insipid and annoying -- that most of us get everyday could make a person a little bit crazy. The problem is that finding the good stuff amidst the garbage can be a little like looking for a needle in a haystack.

In fact, one recent survey from Microsoft Windows Live found that 60 percent of Internet users say their online lives sometimes feel more disorganized than their physical lives.

Still, don't despair -- yes Virginia, it really is possible to get your e-mail inbox to zero. Perhaps not every day, but at least a few times a week, and here's how. Borrow a tip from the wide world of time management and zero out your inbox with the four D system.

One note: As far as I can tell, the four D model (and variations) have been around for about 20 years. I did not event it, but along with others I've written about them in books and articles and taught workshops using the model for decades. These are just my take on the timeless topic.

Do: Some items that pop up in your in-box require or inspire you take immediate action. If the message you see can be handled easily and quickly (say within five minutes) do it now. Once done, delete the item or move it to the appropriate folder for storage. If the time can't be completed easily move it to a folder for items to be done, or flag it for completion at some point during the day. At the end of the day, all the flagged items, that are unfinished should be moved to the 'to be done' folder.

Delete: If an email sits in your in-box waiting to be worked on for days, weeks, or even months, you may be putting off the completion of the item for several reasons including: It is too big to handle as is and needs to be broken down into bite size chunks; the item is not clearly defined enough for you to take action on; it is something you don't really, want, need or intend to do. If this last reason fits, there is no shame in hitting the delete button and saying so-long to that message muddling up your inbox.

Delegate: Just because you received the email message, does not mean you have to be the one to execute it. A great strategy for clearing out your in-box is to transfer it to someone else's. Considerations, of course, need to be given to the other person's availability, ability and willingness, but the option of passing on a piece of the work to someone else is a real one. Ask yourself if you really need to be the one to handle an item?

Defer: Many items in your in-box are good ideas you would like to follow up on - just not now. Instead of letting the someday item sit in your active in-box file, create a 'to do', 'pending' or 'someday' folder where you can keep tabs on messages you may want to take action on at some point in the future.

By reflecting on your priorities, goals and commitments you can more easily determine which bits and pieces don't require action today, but can be put off until tomorrow. The key is to immediately clear the item out of your in-box and move it to another file where you can easily retrieve it when you are ready to work on it.

Ask yourself, Is it essential or important that this be done today or can it wait? Would there be any serious negative consequences if I delayed doing this item?

Exercise: Five Minutes To A Cleaner Inbox

Open your email in-box and then set your watch, alarm clock, computer or iphone on a five-minute timer. Now, starting from the top (the latest email) go through and see how many items you can get completed and moved out of your mailbox using the four D's - Do, Delete, Delegate or Defer.

Karen Leland is author of the recently released books Email In An Instant: 60 Ways To Get Your Message Across With Style and Impact, Watercooler Wisdom: How Smart People Prosper In the Face of Conflict, Pressure and Change and Time Management In An Instant:60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day. She is the co-creator of a new line of Productivity Pads from Time Tamer™ and the co-founder of Sterling Consulting Group. For questions, comments or to book Karen to speak at your next event, please e-mail [e-mail].

Comments

[Pankaj Taneja]

One key advice could be to "Substitute".

Part of the problem of email overflow arises from using email for the wrong things. Especially in companies, there is a habit of using email for collaborative purposes - assigning tasks and keeping track of them, working together on files, discussing issues. Mails are bound to fly back and forth and fill our inboxes. We had recently done a whitepaper on the subject, and suggested moving to better tools to ease the email overflow problem and improve information management. ZDNet had covered our whitepaper @ http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=18692

You could see the whitepaper at http://hyperoffice.com/business-email-overload/

[ksperl131]

I can't hear this advice enough times. Even if I can't seem to organize my inbox, the more I learn about the 4Ds, the more it will eventually take hold somewhere deep within my brain. It's one thing to be a horder of things....it's quite another to save emails -- especially the "You Have Won the Australian Lottery" ones. Thanks Karen, for reminding me that clutter is counterproductive.

[Phalanxman]

It's just as easy to get a new e-mail address, and notify your legit contacts, and be more careful next time.

[MiddleRoadLiberal]

Strangely, the only spam I ever receive are from libertarian groups complaining about liberals and asking for my money or time. I wonder what I could have signed up for for every libertarian group in the country to get my email address.

[KMAz]

I keep hearing these stories, and have done so for over 20 years, and have very seldom gotten any outside unsolicited mail. Why? I don't sign up for everything and its dog and hand out my e-mail address like a welcome mat. I also maintain my primary personal email, a business email, and a third email which can easily be dropped if I so chose and set up one to replace it.

Want to clean out your email. Set up a simple rule and run it, get rid of anything from businesses you don't want to deal with and individuals you no longer interace with.

Life doesn't start or end at your email address or your handheld or iphone.

[Jalans]

I started to zero out my inbox as a New Years resolution this year. I had over 6000 in the box, most of which I deleted and the rest filed. I've maintained the discipline for the most part all year and must say I love it. I got started after watching Merlin Mann's video Inbox Zero,
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=973149761529535925

My recommendation. DO IT !

[aigeanta]

After I had my baby I realized I was getting way too much email and I didn't even really care about most of the alerts I was receiving. I started unsubscribing to everything that wasn't critical to know about immediately, or anything I wasn't absolutely positively interested in. The next step took a long time, maybe a couple of hours, but it has already really simplified my email life: I made filters for labeling most of the types of inbound emails I get. I use Gmail almost exclusively, and all my other accounts get filtered through there eventually, so I will only have to do this one time and just add new labels as I get interested in more things. So now, instead of hitting my inbox, new coupon-related mail gets labeled "Coupon", and archived immediately. It's still not marked as read, so I see the label being highlighted in the sidebar of my Gmail window whenever there's a new mail in the category. So far I feel "cleaner" and I'm spending a lot less time looking at email in my inbox, because only un-categorized stuff is showing up there, and I'm immediately making new labels/filters for everything I've gotten in the last week. Try this method out and see if it works. If you want further instructions on setting up labels and filters in Gmail, try googling for a howto, and if that still confuses you, please feel free to contact me.

[deckard70]

If mail services let me tag certain mails with an "EXPIRE THIS MESSAGE IN 30 DAYS", I'd be very happy. Often I want to hold on to a message for a month, for example if the email message is an order confirmation and I want to be sure the package arrives from UPS before I delete it. But by the time I am ready to delete the message, the message is off my front page and thus it is spared from deletion if I am not paying attention... If Yahoo and GMail added an "EXPIRE THIS MESSAGE IN 30 DAYS" tag, it would do the work for me.

[Kari Henley - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi there!
I started laughing when I read the headline.
I am sure I have over 4,000 emails sitting in my inbox that I am too lazy to deal with, or assume I will get back to and never will.
I love the timer idea and I am sure it will be psychologically thrilling to actually see a ZERO in there for a change!
Thanks for great post
Kari

[Susan McGarvey]

An empty email inbox? Sounds impossible, but I'm going to give it a try!

[dst1]

I did it months ago and now love to get and do my email each day. What a change!!