September 1, 2022
If you donāt yet practice Inbox 0ā¦ Iām very excited for youā¦
Never again will you have to stress that something will slip through the cracks. Itās a simple and bulletproof framework for handling inbound messages.
Most people have 1000+ email notifications, and they expect to remember which ones they have to respond to or act onā¦ š¤Æ
Emails are guaranteed to go missing.
The solution is Inbox 0. That is, having a clear inbox daily, or at the very least, on a weekly basis.
How do you achieve Inbox 0?
Itās quite simpleā¦ After reading or taking action on an email, do one of 3 things:
š¤Ā Archive
ā±Ā Snooze (this is now a native feature amongst most platforms)
šĀ Delete
The idea is to handle your inbox like a ticket system ā If itās there, it requires attention.
How this optimizes internal team communications:
Imagine you send an email to a colleague asking them to handle a taskā¦
How do you know if the task is going to get done? You have no option but to follow up and stress about it, because you canāt be sure that they saw your email, or that theyāll take action on it.
Without Inbox 0, communications are broken.
How To Maintain Inbox 0:
Unless your job is handle support emails all day, you should batch your email time ā That is, create calendar blocks for when you will achieve Inbox 0.
Simply āchecking emailā is counter-productive (I typically handle emails 1-2x per day).
I also encourage you to turn off email notifications (yesā¦ you heard me right, turn em off!). Trying to be proactive while being reactive is not a realistic expectation.
How To Implement Inbox 0:
Thereās no way around thisā¦ Initially, you have to dedicate time to clear your inbox.
Yes, it will take some time. But you can speed up the process by archiving or deleting in bulk, and I wonāt be surprised if you find something important that was originally missed.
You will not regret it.
Go ahead and try it:
- Block off 1-2 hours in your calendar to clear your inbox
- Archive, snooze or delete all emails until you achieve inbox 0
- Schedule 1-2x per weekday to achieve inbox 0
See you all next Thursday š
PS. Whenever you're ready... Here are threeĀ ways I can help you systematize & automate operations:
- Learn how to find, hire and manage virtual assistants ā Free Access
- Systematize company processes & automate accountability ā Learn More
- Let me help you automate operations and exit the day-to-day grind ā Work With Me
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