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Inbox Zero

ew0k writes:

I don’t know if [using the inbox as a todo list] is the original Inbox Zero method, but it’s my version and it works really well for me. By the way I treat web browser tabs the same way: close them when they’re no longer relevant.

That’s the opposite of the original Inbox Zero.♥

People started using the inbox as a todo list, and Inbox Zero was a reaction to that.

Instead, in Inbox Zero, you move the email from the inbox as soon as you see them, by sorting them into one of a bunch of categories.

• Delete
• Archive
• Reply right away (2 minutes)
• Waiting for something else to happen
• There’s something I need to do (put in todo app too)
• Reply when have time to write longer

The upside of this is that:

• You get a clear sense of what’s “new/unseen” to you
• You get all your todos in one place, even non–email-triggered ones
• You get more intentionality in what commitments you take on (and can nope out when you’re about to get overwhelmed)
• You can clearly and crisply sort out actionable items (i.e. turn walls of text into clear action)
• Your inbox doesn’t become something you dread to open

This cuts down on stress, or that’s the idea.

The downside is that you spend some time fiddling and cleaning and setting up apps and filters and it might not be worth it to you. If what you have works, it works.♥

I’ve used Inbox Zero since I first started using email in 1996 (it wasn’t called Inbox Zero then, a name Merlin Mann came up with in 2006), but now that I have Delta Chat, I don’t. If there’s something I need to do (or even just respond later), I do copy it out out to a todo app. Delta Chat does have a way you can “archive” chats but I usually don’t bother.