I used to think having Inbox Zero was being productive.
By clearing out my email inbox at work every day or so, I felt like I was cleaning house and preparing for the real work I was about to do.
Tra la la! Managing emails is an easy win, right? You’re GSD (Getting Shit Done).
But about four months ago, I noticed I was getting overwhelmed by the volume of email I was receiving, responding to, and deleting.
I noticed Inbox Zero was no longer possible on a semi-daily—or even weekly—basis.
As a planning freak, this stressed me out (and kinda pissed me off), until it occurred to me that I had some control over the volume of email that was coming in. And that I didn’t have to respond to everything right away—if someone REALLY wanted an answer, they could call me.
Especially my coworkers who worked in the same building!
When I stopped to think about the amount of time it was taking me to read and craft a decent reply to a message, I started to understand why my soul was dying a little every time I sat down to check my inbox on Monday mornings.
If you’re experiencing an email freakout too, take note of the following ideas. I promise you won’t look at email the same way!
1. Don’t write ‘dumb’ emails.
You can control the amount of messages you get by sending smart, super-specific messages out into the ether.
For example, when you’re using email to set up meetings or phone calls, immediately offer your availability.
Dumb: ‘Hi! Let’s meet soon!’
Smart: ‘Hi! Let’s meet! I’m available Monday, at 2p, or Tuesday, at 9a. Can we meet in my office?’
See what I mean? By identifying the best way to wrap up the conversation, says Cal Newport in his 2016 book, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, you’ve eliminated time-sucking interactions.
Here’s another smart suggestion: use FYI or No Need to Reply in your message or subject line.
If you don’t require a response,
let the people know!
Your coworkers won’t be wondering if they should reply, and you won’t have any random ‘Great!’ messages to delete.
Finally, smarties, don’t end your emails with the dreaded ‘Thoughts?’. Nobody wants that. Instead, ask for a specific reply with a specific deadline.
2. Use the telephone.
Brrrrrrrrring!
I’ll admit I get quite startled when my phone rings—at home and at the office.
But for the most part, that phone call and ensuing two-minute conversation just eliminated at least three emails. Holy moly. I just got 15 to 60 minutes back for more important work!
Thank you, caller.
Unless you need a paper trail, sometimes the phone is just a better way to get stuff done.
3. Ignore everyone.
It’s (mostly) okay to ignore everyone! Unless your job requires you to immediately respond to messages, do yourself a favor and turn off your audio alerts or close your email window for a few hours.
Ignore Teams, Basecamp, Slack, your phone, and your damn text messages if you
really need to focus.
You could even pretend your email is an actual mailbox, where the mail only comes once a day. Can you imagine that? Just checking once a day?
Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky, authors of Make Time: How to focus on what matters every day, even recommend that time of day be in the afternoon, after you’ve already done your real work.
They also claim that by reducing the amount of times we check email, we’re making ourselves ‘better at email’: we answer 20% faster, and we write better messages.
4. Let the thread die.
If no meaningful response is required, why bother chiming in? Peace out!
5. Schedule your inbox declutter time.
Today, I’m going to the office to ignore my non-urgent email and to do some meaningful work. Tomorrow, I’ll be scheduling two hours to manage my inbox.
And if it doesn’t take that long to declutter? Well, then, I have some extra time to do something else that’s way less soul-crushing!
Ready to edit?
Try these tweaks if you have inbox dread:
- Instead of telling a coworker ‘Congrats’ via email or Teams, pop into her office to tell her
- Close your inbox window for an hour or two
- Block off one or two hours this week for inbox decluttering
Happy editing!
Erica
