You may be familiar with the situation: you have 964 emails in your inbox. You've already read many messages, clicked on them several times and thought to yourself: "I'll do it later!". This approach usually ends in constant stress and a guilty conscience because of unanswered emails. In addition, you often feel permanently overwhelmed and simply powerless to cope with the workload. In this article, you will find out how you can finally get a grip on your email inbox with Inbox Zero and free up more time for the really important to-dos.
What is the Inbox Zero method?
"Inbox Zero" refers to the state a user's email inbox is in when all the emails it contains have been processed and either deleted, archived or moved to other organizational folders so that no unread or unfinished emails remain in the inbox. In other words, the inbox is "empty". The Inbox-Zero method became known in particular through the American productivity blogger Merlin Mann. He recommends creating five subfolders in the inbox. In the following video (English with German subtitles), Merlin Mann talks about his method in detail:
Advantages of Inbox Zero
Inbox Zero offers a number of advantages. The most important of these include
Better organization
Inbox Zero requires regular and active processing of your emails. As a result, emails are moved to suitable folders, which leads to better organization and faster retrievability and prioritization of messages.
Less stress
The feeling of having a full and untidy inbox can cause stress. Regularly tidying and emptying your inbox can reduce this stress as you always have an overview of your emails.
Increased efficiency
By focusing on processing emails instead of leaving them unprocessed in your inbox, you can complete tasks faster and work more efficiently.
Avoidance of information overload
Because your mailbox is always tidy and structured, you never lose track of the really important messages in your inbox.
Who is Inbox Zero suitable for?
Inbox-Zero is particularly suitable for professional emails, as efficient and fast communication is often important in a business context. People in management positions in particular benefit from the stress reduction associated with the zero inbox method. But the Inbox Zero method is also a good way for digital order lovers to keep their inboxes tidy.
It is best to try out the Inbox Zero method yourself over a few days or weeks. It is important that you feel comfortable with the method. If you feel uncomfortable or find it too stressful, it may not be the best choice for you.
How to implement Inbox Zero Workflow according to best practice
First create the following five subfolders in your inbox:
- Answers: For all e-mails that can be answered within five minutes
- Action: For all emails that take a little longer to answer
- Hold: For emails with information that you want to have at your fingertips
- Waiting: For e-mails for which you are waiting for a reply or for which you have delegated processing.
- Archive: For emails that you have edited but want to keep.
Once the folders have been created, you check your inbox at regular intervals, distribute new emails to the previously created folders and process them in defined time windows.
What you should definitely bear in mind:
For example, you can define 2 blockers called "Mail-Time" in your calendar for each time slot. These are from 11 am to 12 noon and from 5 pm to 6 pm. This way you can make sure that you only check your emails when you have completed your most important to-dos in the morning and in the evening you can make sure that no important emails are left open for the next day.
⚠️ The most important thing about this procedure
Only open your email client in your mail time and deactivate desktop notifications. This way, you avoid constant distraction during your really important to-dos!
Conclusion on Inbox Zero
The Inbox Zero System is an efficient email management strategy that aims to regularly clean up the email inbox so that no unread or unfinished messages remain. This method offers numerous benefits, including better organization, stress reduction, increased efficiency and the avoidance of information overload. However, it is important to note that Inbox Zero is not for everyone, as the choice of the best email management method depends on individual preferences and workflows. It is advisable to choose the method that best suits your needs.
With the Inbox Zero method, you can process your emails in a structured and prioritized way and have a permanently empty inbox. And the best thing about it: the constant stress and guilty conscience will also disappear.
