Inbox Zero. No pipedream.

I need to write this blog post. Every week I hear musings about, "I get 300 emails per day" or "It must be lost can you resend it" or well...... you get the gist.

No, I need to write this blog post if only to save those poor souls sucked into the productivity blackhole known as email. Adhering to the concept of inbox zero definitely works and is simpler than you think. Here's how.

1. Conversation View - this was introduced by Gmail but you can use it in Outlook and most email clients. Conversation view allows you to group messages of the same subject in a single thread. This allows you to process the conversation in its entirety reducing the number of individual emails you need to deal with.

2. Delete - enough said. If you've read it and don't need it for reference, bin it.

3. File - For the emails that require no action (and that's every CC email by the way) I file it into a single folder. No complicated structures just a folder called "Archive. How do I get away with it? Enter Google Desktop Search. Just set and forget, it will index your email and make it as searchable as..... Google.

4. Action - In the case where your email requires a reply, reply. If it needs to be forwarded, forward. If it requires an action for later. Create a task from it (this can be done in both Outlook and Gmail).
All of these steps need to be taken with the goal of removing emails from your inbox until there are none left. Inbox zero. When was the last time your inbox was empty?