Inbox Zero doesn't mean having no emails: it means having no pending decisions in your inbox. Every message goes through a decision and leaves the inbox.
The four decisions
- Do it: if it takes two minutes, now.
- Delegate it: if someone else should handle it, forward it and make a note.
- Schedule it: if it takes longer, turn it into a task with a date.
- Archive it: if nothing needs doing, out of the inbox.
The routine
- Check email in two or three blocks a day, not all the time.
- Clear the inbox in each block using the four decisions.
- Unsubscribe from what you never read.
What about WhatsApp?
The same method works for any channel. The problem is having lots of them: that's where a unified inbox helps.
From theory to tool. duo:kim brings email and WhatsApp together in a single inbox and suggests what to do with each message. Find out more.