March 30, 2008 39 Comments

Taming the Inbox- One Week Later

emptyinbox A little over a week ago, I wrote about cleaning out my inbox. I’ve learned a bit in the previous week, and want to pass on my learnings to those of you who are following along and working on your own inbox. As you can see from the attached picture, I’m still at zero, but that’s not always easy. It takes determination. Here are some things I’ve learned, and maybe, if you’re doing this yourself, share what YOU’VE learned in the comments, too.

Schedule Two Things Faithfully: Offload and Review

The hardest part, and what left a few emails sticking in my inbox, was not just taking the moment to shuffle through them twice a day. The second hardest part, and where I fell down the hardest, was not getting back into my review/follow-up items, and thus missed a few responses I owed people.

Schedule these in Google Calendar (or your calendar of choice) if you find yourself falling down on this front.

Be Brutal With Email and Stop Peeking

Delete the hell out of your email. Answer what needs answering, but don’t keep things around for “someday.” At the worst, stick something in your calendar to revisit an idea, but otherwise, delete.

I’m still learning to not peek at email until I’m ready to blaze through them. If I let them build up, part of me twitches, thinking, “Well my inbox isn’t empty,” but that’s not the point. The point is to empty the thing when I’m scheduled to empty it, not just be a crazed inbox checker.

Write Better Emails in the First Place

I did reasonably well at this, but I found that when I had a ping-pong in my inbox, it was usually my fault for not closing the loop. The better the email I can write someone, the less likely I’ll get something back in my lap.

So What Did YOU Learn?

I’ve seen emails and blog posts and twitters from people saying they’re working on the empty inbox thing. What are you finding along the way? What have you noticed? Share with us.

Screenshots are always taken with Plasq’s Skitch.

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  • http://www.technotheory.com Jared Goralnick

    Chris,

    Was late to the game in your last post, but I agree with you that the biggest difficulty is forcing yourself not to check. Since I pretty much run a whole business focused on helping people to stop checking email (no really, remember me? I was the guy who had the cards at SXSW that said “STOP CHECKING YOUR EMAIL”), I figure I can add some other little trinkets…

    * Turn off auto-checking on your cellphone–since that’s a hack that a lot of people use to get around the not-checking their email on their computer (how to do that)
    * For Outlook Exchange people, switch to Work Offline
    * Use programs like Writeroom (Mac) or Darkroom (PC) — since you’ll be free from some distractions
    * Consider programs like LeechBlock which will limit your access to sites like Gmail within Firefox
    * You could also try AwayFind once it comes out of private beta — since that program routes any urgent messages to you via SMS (or to someone else) if you decide not to check your email for any length of time [note: that's my product]

    Hope that helps a little–you’re dead on that not checking email all the time is the biggest step toward being able to manage email. Then when you do check it you’re able to batch through all the messages…

  • http://www.technotheory.com Jared Goralnick

    Chris,

    Was late to the game in your last post, but I agree with you that the biggest difficulty is forcing yourself not to check. Since I pretty much run a whole business focused on helping people to stop checking email (no really, remember me? I was the guy who had the cards at SXSW that said “STOP CHECKING YOUR EMAIL”), I figure I can add some other little trinkets…

    * Turn off auto-checking on your cellphone–since that’s a hack that a lot of people use to get around the not-checking their email on their computer (how to do that)
    * For Outlook Exchange people, switch to Work Offline
    * Use programs like Writeroom (Mac) or Darkroom (PC) — since you’ll be free from some distractions
    * Consider programs like LeechBlock which will limit your access to sites like Gmail within Firefox
    * You could also try AwayFind once it comes out of private beta — since that program routes any urgent messages to you via SMS (or to someone else) if you decide not to check your email for any length of time [note: that's my product]

    Hope that helps a little–you’re dead on that not checking email all the time is the biggest step toward being able to manage email. Then when you do check it you’re able to batch through all the messages…

  • http://www.adamgershenbaum.wordpress.com Adam Gershenabuam

    Email management seems to be a hot topic in the past week.

    Try the http://www.xobni.com email plugin. It really has changed the way I view my email box. It is no longer a vast pit where email gets tossed and disregarded. It is now an information library that is not bound to folders and rules. I highly suggest checking it out and have an invite if you need one.

    I have light days of 15 or less emails but have some days where I get 60 and sometimes over 100 emails in a day. Best advice you have given is to not to be a crazed inbox checker. Anytime I close the inbox and refuse to peek, I get much more steady stream of work in. But I admit I don’t practice that technique more times then none. It is part just wanting to know what is going on at all times, part I appreciate when someone gets back to me quickly and try to respond to my emails quickly, and part a lot of emails I deal with require a quick response.

  • http://www.adamgershenbaum.wordpress.com Adam Gershenabuam

    Email management seems to be a hot topic in the past week.

    Try the http://www.xobni.com email plugin. It really has changed the way I view my email box. It is no longer a vast pit where email gets tossed and disregarded. It is now an information library that is not bound to folders and rules. I highly suggest checking it out and have an invite if you need one.

    I have light days of 15 or less emails but have some days where I get 60 and sometimes over 100 emails in a day. Best advice you have given is to not to be a crazed inbox checker. Anytime I close the inbox and refuse to peek, I get much more steady stream of work in. But I admit I don’t practice that technique more times then none. It is part just wanting to know what is going on at all times, part I appreciate when someone gets back to me quickly and try to respond to my emails quickly, and part a lot of emails I deal with require a quick response.

  • http://www.adamgershenbaum.wordpress.com Adam Gershenabuam

    Email management seems to be a hot topic in the past week.

    Try the http://www.xobni.com email plugin. It really has changed the way I view my email box. It is no longer a vast pit where email gets tossed and disregarded. It is now an information library that is not bound to folders and rules. I highly suggest checking it out and have an invite if you need one.

    I have light days of 15 or less emails but have some days where I get 60 and sometimes over 100 emails in a day. Best advice you have given is to not to be a crazed inbox checker. Anytime I close the inbox and refuse to peek, I get much more steady stream of work in. But I admit I don’t practice that technique more times then none. It is part just wanting to know what is going on at all times, part I appreciate when someone gets back to me quickly and try to respond to my emails quickly, and part a lot of emails I deal with require a quick response.

  • http://www.adamgershenbaum.wordpress.com Adam Gershenbaum

    Ahhh pardon the gross misspelling of my own last name it is late!

  • http://www.adamgershenbaum.wordpress.com Adam Gershenbaum

    Ahhh pardon the gross misspelling of my own last name it is late!

  • http://www.adamgershenbaum.wordpress.com Adam Gershenbaum

    Ahhh pardon the gross misspelling of my own last name it is late!

  • http://twitter.com/AdamBoettiger Adam Boettiger

    Hey Chris,

    The Calendar really needs to be a sacred place, not just for throwing stuff into. Getting stuff out of your Inbox is great, but I’ve found it works best to use IWantSandy http://www.iwantsandy.com/ and just forward the email with a tickler date if you want it to float back to you at a later time. Then just delete it from your Inbox. It’s not just a great way to procrastinate, it’s a wonderfully effective tickler system that you can loop in to your cell phone with SMS alerts, email etc.

    Adam

  • http://twitter.com/AdamBoettiger Adam Boettiger

    Hey Chris,

    The Calendar really needs to be a sacred place, not just for throwing stuff into. Getting stuff out of your Inbox is great, but I’ve found it works best to use IWantSandy http://www.iwantsandy.com/ and just forward the email with a tickler date if you want it to float back to you at a later time. Then just delete it from your Inbox. It’s not just a great way to procrastinate, it’s a wonderfully effective tickler system that you can loop in to your cell phone with SMS alerts, email etc.

    Adam

  • http://twitter.com/AdamBoettiger Adam Boettiger

    Hey Chris,

    The Calendar really needs to be a sacred place, not just for throwing stuff into. Getting stuff out of your Inbox is great, but I’ve found it works best to use IWantSandy http://www.iwantsandy.com/ and just forward the email with a tickler date if you want it to float back to you at a later time. Then just delete it from your Inbox. It’s not just a great way to procrastinate, it’s a wonderfully effective tickler system that you can loop in to your cell phone with SMS alerts, email etc.

    Adam

  • http://twitter.com/AdamBoettiger Adam Boettiger

    Hey Chris,

    The Calendar really needs to be a sacred place, not just for throwing stuff into. Getting stuff out of your Inbox is great, but I’ve found it works best to use IWantSandy http://www.iwantsandy.com/ and just forward the email with a tickler date if you want it to float back to you at a later time. Then just delete it from your Inbox. It’s not just a great way to procrastinate, it’s a wonderfully effective tickler system that you can loop in to your cell phone with SMS alerts, email etc.

    Adam

  • http://www.ravensrange.com Linda R. Moore

    I stopped having my email program on all the time when I realized it was stopping me from actually working. I’m not down to zero yet–I hate to rush personal emails–but I’m a lot better about things than I used to be. And I think I’ll get to zero, but for me the check once/twice a day thing came before the desire to get down to zero.

  • http://www.ravensrange.com Linda R. Moore

    I stopped having my email program on all the time when I realized it was stopping me from actually working. I’m not down to zero yet–I hate to rush personal emails–but I’m a lot better about things than I used to be. And I think I’ll get to zero, but for me the check once/twice a day thing came before the desire to get down to zero.

  • http://www.ravensrange.com Linda R. Moore

    I stopped having my email program on all the time when I realized it was stopping me from actually working. I’m not down to zero yet–I hate to rush personal emails–but I’m a lot better about things than I used to be. And I think I’ll get to zero, but for me the check once/twice a day thing came before the desire to get down to zero.

  • http://www.ravensrange.com Linda R. Moore

    I stopped having my email program on all the time when I realized it was stopping me from actually working. I’m not down to zero yet–I hate to rush personal emails–but I’m a lot better about things than I used to be. And I think I’ll get to zero, but for me the check once/twice a day thing came before the desire to get down to zero.

  • http://jessmc.edublogs.org Jess McCulloch

    Ah, the goal of an empty inbox. I aim for it all the time. You’re right, you have to be cruel and rather than thinking “I’ll save it for later” think “Where else can I get this if I need it again later?”
    I found this article from Zen Habits helpful when thinking about cleaning out my inbox(es!)

  • http://jessmc.edublogs.org Jess McCulloch

    Ah, the goal of an empty inbox. I aim for it all the time. You’re right, you have to be cruel and rather than thinking “I’ll save it for later” think “Where else can I get this if I need it again later?”
    I found this article from Zen Habits helpful when thinking about cleaning out my inbox(es!)

  • http://jessmc.edublogs.org Jess McCulloch

    Ah, the goal of an empty inbox. I aim for it all the time. You’re right, you have to be cruel and rather than thinking “I’ll save it for later” think “Where else can I get this if I need it again later?”
    I found this article from Zen Habits helpful when thinking about cleaning out my inbox(es!)

  • http://jessmc.edublogs.org Jess McCulloch

    Ah, the goal of an empty inbox. I aim for it all the time. You’re right, you have to be cruel and rather than thinking “I’ll save it for later” think “Where else can I get this if I need it again later?”
    I found this article from Zen Habits helpful when thinking about cleaning out my inbox(es!)

  • http://jessmc.edublogs.org Jess McCulloch

    Sorry hyperlink didn’t work! Here it is: http://zenhabits.net/2007/01/email-zen-clear-out-your-inbox/

  • http://jessmc.edublogs.org Jess McCulloch

    Sorry hyperlink didn’t work! Here it is: http://zenhabits.net/2007/01/email-zen-clear-out-your-inbox/

  • http://jessmc.edublogs.org Jess McCulloch

    Sorry hyperlink didn’t work! Here it is: http://zenhabits.net/2007/01/email-zen-clear-out-your-inbox/

  • http://jessmc.edublogs.org Jess McCulloch

    Sorry hyperlink didn’t work! Here it is: http://zenhabits.net/2007/01/email-zen-clear-out-your-inbox/

  • http://remarcom.typepad.com/remarkable_communication Sonia Simone

    This is such a good discipline, I did very well with it for about the first two years I did GTD, but both of my major email boxes are currently completely shot to hell.

    Like anything else, it requires commitment and focus, neither of which I am willing to spend on my email box at the moment. I should, because there’s a good payoff in mental health & productivity, but nonetheless, I don’t.

    Maybe I will take some inspiration from you today and get on it. :) I like Merlin Mann’s technique of just declaring amnesty and deleting everything in the InBox. I don’t have the courage to do that, but I might create an amnesty folder and move everything there, to be able to start fresh.

  • http://remarcom.typepad.com/remarkable_communication Sonia Simone

    This is such a good discipline, I did very well with it for about the first two years I did GTD, but both of my major email boxes are currently completely shot to hell.

    Like anything else, it requires commitment and focus, neither of which I am willing to spend on my email box at the moment. I should, because there’s a good payoff in mental health & productivity, but nonetheless, I don’t.

    Maybe I will take some inspiration from you today and get on it. :) I like Merlin Mann’s technique of just declaring amnesty and deleting everything in the InBox. I don’t have the courage to do that, but I might create an amnesty folder and move everything there, to be able to start fresh.

  • http://remarcom.typepad.com/remarkable_communication Sonia Simone

    This is such a good discipline, I did very well with it for about the first two years I did GTD, but both of my major email boxes are currently completely shot to hell.

    Like anything else, it requires commitment and focus, neither of which I am willing to spend on my email box at the moment. I should, because there’s a good payoff in mental health & productivity, but nonetheless, I don’t.

    Maybe I will take some inspiration from you today and get on it. :) I like Merlin Mann’s technique of just declaring amnesty and deleting everything in the InBox. I don’t have the courage to do that, but I might create an amnesty folder and move everything there, to be able to start fresh.

  • http://remarcom.typepad.com/remarkable_communication Sonia Simone

    This is such a good discipline, I did very well with it for about the first two years I did GTD, but both of my major email boxes are currently completely shot to hell.

    Like anything else, it requires commitment and focus, neither of which I am willing to spend on my email box at the moment. I should, because there’s a good payoff in mental health & productivity, but nonetheless, I don’t.

    Maybe I will take some inspiration from you today and get on it. :) I like Merlin Mann’s technique of just declaring amnesty and deleting everything in the InBox. I don’t have the courage to do that, but I might create an amnesty folder and move everything there, to be able to start fresh.

  • http://www.joshpaul.com joshpaul

    I truly believe there’s an opportunity to create a solution using technology. The approach I may take is Latent Semantic Indexing and Bayesian filtering to create a process similar to a spam filter, but for items that need attention now vs. soon vs. later.

    Would you use such a tool?

    Thoughts?

  • http://www.joshpaul.com joshpaul

    I truly believe there’s an opportunity to create a solution using technology. The approach I may take is Latent Semantic Indexing and Bayesian filtering to create a process similar to a spam filter, but for items that need attention now vs. soon vs. later.

    Would you use such a tool?

    Thoughts?

  • http://www.joshpaul.com joshpaul

    I truly believe there’s an opportunity to create a solution using technology. The approach I may take is Latent Semantic Indexing and Bayesian filtering to create a process similar to a spam filter, but for items that need attention now vs. soon vs. later.

    Would you use such a tool?

    Thoughts?

  • http://www.joshpaul.com joshpaul

    I truly believe there’s an opportunity to create a solution using technology. The approach I may take is Latent Semantic Indexing and Bayesian filtering to create a process similar to a spam filter, but for items that need attention now vs. soon vs. later.

    Would you use such a tool?

    Thoughts?

  • http://realestatezebra.com Daniel, the Real Estate Zebra

    I’m with you, Chris. I have a tough time not peeking at my email. Especially since it gets pushed to my BlackBerry. I have been pretty good about checking my project list, but I need to get better about putting things on the list. That is where I tend to fall down. All in all, your post has helped me organize myself quite a bit. My Gmail inbox isn’t quite so scary, anymore.

  • http://realestatezebra.com Daniel, the Real Estate Zebra

    I’m with you, Chris. I have a tough time not peeking at my email. Especially since it gets pushed to my BlackBerry. I have been pretty good about checking my project list, but I need to get better about putting things on the list. That is where I tend to fall down. All in all, your post has helped me organize myself quite a bit. My Gmail inbox isn’t quite so scary, anymore.

  • http://realestatezebra.com Daniel, the Real Estate Zebra

    I’m with you, Chris. I have a tough time not peeking at my email. Especially since it gets pushed to my BlackBerry. I have been pretty good about checking my project list, but I need to get better about putting things on the list. That is where I tend to fall down. All in all, your post has helped me organize myself quite a bit. My Gmail inbox isn’t quite so scary, anymore.

  • http://realestatezebra.com Daniel, the Real Estate Zebra

    I’m with you, Chris. I have a tough time not peeking at my email. Especially since it gets pushed to my BlackBerry. I have been pretty good about checking my project list, but I need to get better about putting things on the list. That is where I tend to fall down. All in all, your post has helped me organize myself quite a bit. My Gmail inbox isn’t quite so scary, anymore.

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  • http://www.savetubevideo.com youtube downloader

    Delete the hell out of your email. Answer what needs answering, but don’t keep things around for “someday.” At the worst, stick something in your calendar to revisit an idea, but otherwise, delete.

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