I would like to elaborate on my email philosophy.
A bit of necessary exposition: I am a technology professional who is responsible for email administration (SPF records and various alphabet soups), and I want to say, ask any person responsible for email traffic and they’ll tell you the breakdown is 95% automated garbage to and from robots, 4% scams (don’t click links, I beg) and 1% your boss telling you that they are waiting on a Very Important Email that you need to find Right Now.
Sidebar: Why are we conducting business via email? From a deliverability standpoint, email ranks only slightly higher than carrier pigeon. That being said, we’re all stuck with it, and thus our coping mechanisms develop.
In addition to my work inbox, I have three (3) personal addresses from various phases of my life that I still use regularly. At the end of my daily screen time – hopefully before 9pm – all of those inboxes are empty, unless there is an outstanding issue that will be dealt with promptly in the morning. Why?
Firstly, for me, inbox zero is about using technology to keep up to date. Emptying my email every day is like opening my mail – yeah, I might not respond to something immediately, but I am abreast of what’s going on. You can’t be surprised if you stay caught up! I consume more information via Twitter than any of my inboxes, so information overload isn’t really a concern from the email vector.
Secondly, having an empty inbox signals to me that there’s nothing urgent that requires my attention. Different inboxes have different sorting mechanisms (labels, folders) and the search function in any inbox is so robust I never worry about “losing” an email. If there’s something I need later, the search can find it much more efficiently than I can. Removing mail that’s awaiting responses from others frees up my thoughts for other things, rather than “I wonder when they’ll respond?”
Thirdly, archiving, labeling, or responding to email and ending the day with none means that the next day, when I dive back in, everything is in chronological order, which is how my brain works.
Lastly, I thrive off measurable and achievable goals, and since I have a handle on my inboxes, this really is something I can do most of the time. Of course there are days I don’t look at my computer at all – but those are more the exception than the rule. Getting to zero, and that sweet endorphin rush when crossing “email” off my daily to-do list, is a powerful ambrosia.
My partner’s email regularly sits in the quadruple digits. I begrudge no one their strategies for dealing with the absurd overhead of being alive in the “digital age”. If you’re reading along and agreeing, but despair at ever attempting inbox zero yourself: here is your permission to delete/archive/trash everything in your inbox right now. Start aggressively unsubscribing – why are you receiving email you don’t want to read anyway? If you choose to go on a new journey, I wish you the best of luck. You can choose to restart today. It’s allowed.
Lani.Tech 