In today's era of information overload, email productivity is paramount. Inbox Zero is one email productivity system, designed by Merlin Mann, that's effective for thousands of people. Could it help you reclaim your inbox and your life?
Your inbox is out of control - time for the bat-signal
If you still treat your emails like Christmas presents, maybe it is time to get a bit lighter on your feet, as your inbox probably doesn't fit on your computer screen anymore.
It's kind of like that desperate moment when Superman arrives in the comics, or Batman jumps into his supercar to rescue the city from the bad guys (endless emails to dig through!).
Fortunately, there are super heroes out there like Merlin Mann - a bit like Superman and Spiderman combined - who experience similar problems and understand the need for Inbox Zero.
What is Inbox Zero?
Currently, email overload is affecting our time, our productivity and, dare we say it, our sanity!
But it could be happening because most of us have not set up a system for processing tons of incoming messages and converting those messages into appropriate actions as quickly as possible, Mann notes.
Inbox Zero is exactly that series of actions required to reduce an overstuffed email inbox to empty -- and keep it that way. In other words, it is about to reclaiming your email, your attention and your life.
Can you reduce your inbox to zero in less than 20 minutes?
That's the challenge. After all, your time is precious and very limited. If not, here is a tip: you can start by creating a DMZ folder (tip #1), where you put all your unread messages, so your inbox will once again fit on your screen.
You still have to deal with them, of course, yet you have taken the first step: you have decided to draw a line, and make a fresh start.
This is exactly what Inbox Zero is aimed at achieving: it doesn't relate to the message count in your inbox, it is to do with how much of you, your brain, is in that specific inbox. That's it. That's Superman in your life, and you are the superhero, by acknowledging you aren't perfect, no longer lying to yourself, and starting to talk about the true priorities of Inbox Zero. You once again have your life back.
Since email now accounts for about 70% of our communication, the time for writing novels in emails has gone, and the priority of different email messages varies.
Just to put this into perspective: of the hundreds of emails you receive every day, about 2–5% are as important as all the others combined, mostly because the rest are spam, unwanted or of little value.
Tip #2: delete, delete, delete
As your time is limited, and you have no control over the world's demand on your attention, you have to make decisions regarding good email management. After all, your time is both limited and priceless.
Watch Merlin Mann explain Inbox Zero further...
Below is the original talk in which the idea of Inbox Zero began.
Intelligent email management that boosts email productivity
To regain email's primary function, productivity, you can choose to implement Inbox Zero alongside MailGuard email security and filtering.
MailGuard helps you simplify email management by removing 99.997% of spam emails from your business network altogether. What's more, MailGuard provides detailed insights on email usage, and lets you set company-wide or individual rules, all from the sleek unified management console. And if you're worried about deleting email that turns out to be important, SafeGuard keeps a pristine copy of every email you've ever received or sent and can be accessed through Outlook.
So, are you ready to become a hero and take control of your inbox?
Once you have, reward yourself with an inbox zero merit badge from nerdmeritbadges.com
