Productive, stress-free and motivating
I have been using “Zero Inbox” as a workflow for my email inboxes for a long time. The idea behind it is, as the name suggests, to keep the inbox of the mail program empty and not to use it as a task list, archive or similar.
What does Zero Inbox do for me?
One benefit that I find very practical is my increased productivity when processing emails. I can focus on the new, incoming emails and don’t see any old emails that have been sitting in my inbox for days, weeks or years shouting “Hey, I’m still here too”. After a few teething problems at the beginning, I have now managed to reduce the time I spend on email processing alone from 2-3 hours to around 1 hour per day. It also offers me a clean separation between emails and tasks/to-dos.
Looking back, however, it’s much more exciting: I no longer have to stress about emails. I know where to find what I need and what the status is. It also feels good to move or delete the last email from my inbox several times a day. This motivates me for the following tasks.
My workflow for Zero Inbox
In order to get through as efficiently as possible, I have established two framework conditions:
- Push notifications and automatic email retrieval are deactivated on all devices, i.e. emails are only retrieved when I open the mail program or the mail app. There’s a simple reason for this: I want to decide and have control over when I read emails and not be distracted by pop-ups, sounds or vibrations. I check my emails about every 2-4 hours when I have finished other tasks.
- Archive structure: There is no longer one. I’ve only been using one folder for years: “Archive”. As of today, this folder contains 12,627 emails. I can find everything I need using the search function and it’s quicker than in the folder structures I used to set up.
- With a few exceptions, I have unsubscribed from most newsletters. For blogs, I use RSS to find out about new posts.
Now when I check my emails, I check and process all incoming emails:
- advertising, unimportant information: is deleted immediately
- important information: I read it and move it to the archive folder
- emails that need to be processed/replied to quickly: I process them immediately
- mails that require more time or contain other tasks: I forward them to my task management (my to-do list) and move the mail to the archive or delete it.
- emails that contain tasks for others or that others can solve better, I forward and then archive or delete them. I hardly ever use follow-ups. If I do, then as a task in my to-do list. But no markers, flags or anything else in the mail program.
Voilà, the inbox is empty. That usually takes me 5-15 minutes. Without email stress, but with the good feeling of having done something efficiently.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the email inbox serve as a to-do list?
The approach described here advises against this. The inbox remains empty and is used neither as a to-do list nor as an archive. Tasks arising from emails are moved to a separate task management system, while the email itself goes to the archive or the trash. The advantage: a clear separation between messages and to-dos, without old emails lingering in the inbox for weeks.
Is switching to a consistently empty inbox worth the time?
In the case described, the time spent purely on email processing dropped from 2 to 3 hours to about one hour per day, after a few initial growing pains. Actually clearing out the inbox usually took 5 to 15 minutes per session. Added to this was the benefit of no longer feeling stressed about emails, because their status and location were always clear.
How often should you check your email to stay focused on your work?
The rhythm described here is roughly every 2 to 4 hours, each time after completing other tasks. Push notifications and automatic retrieval are turned off on all devices, so emails only arrive when the program or app is opened. The reason is to maintain control over when you check your email, rather than being interrupted by pop-ups, sounds, or vibrations.
Do you need a complex folder structure to find emails?
No. For years, the workflow described here managed with a single folder named “Archive,” which contained around 12,600 emails in 2016. Searches are conducted using the email program’s search function, and that was faster than clicking through the folder structures I had set up earlier. This completely eliminates the need to decide how to file an email: archive or delete.
What do you do with emails that take longer to process?
They don’t go back to the inbox; instead, they’re forwarded to the task management system. Afterward, the email is archived or deleted. Emails that contain tasks for others or are better handled by others follow the same pattern: forward them, then archive or delete them. Only messages that can be dealt with quickly are answered immediately.
Are flags and follow-ups in the email program useful?
The approach described here largely does without them. Follow-ups are rarely used, and markings and flags in the email program aren’t used at all. Anything that needs to be tracked is recorded as a task in the to-do list. This way, the status remains visible in one place instead of being spread across two systems.
How do you handle newsletters and blog notifications?
Most newsletters have been unsubscribed from; only a few exceptions remain. RSS is used instead of email for new blog posts. This means less content lands in the inbox that would otherwise just need to be read and then deleted. Advertising and unimportant items are deleted immediately upon review, while important information is archived after reading.
