How to Keep Your Inbox Empty

1. How to Keep Your Inbox Empty The Zen of Zero Mail J.D. Meier PM, Microsoft Blog: http://SourcesOfInsight.com Getting Results: http://GettingResults.com

2. "Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is specifically your own.“ – Bruce Lee

3. Empty Inbox – Zen in Action

4. A Short Story – “Drive or Be Driven” • When I first joined Microsoft, I noticed a lot of people swamped in mail. With distributed teams, tough schedules and lots of information to share, email is the tool of choice. For better or worse, it’s been the universal tool for personal knowledge bases, instant messaging, and dashboards of action and results. • One of my early managers had a simple rule – “don’t fail at the basics.” If you do a great job at everything else, but fail at administration, you’ll hold yourself back. He was right. I saw some of the best potential fail at the basics. I refused to let email become my Achilles heel. • While most people were swamped, I noticed a few colleagues not only survived, but thrived. I got curious. I learned from them. I studied their principles, patterns, and practices that made these masters of action effective. • I decided I wanted two things: 1) I wanted the most effective techniques. 2) I wanted to spend the least time possible. • I put many, many systems to the test. Ultimately, I favored simplicity and flexibility over complicated and restrictive. I learned a lot of lessons along the way. Ultimately, the most important lesson I learned was … … You drive your mail or your mail drives you! - J.D. Meier

5. The Approach

6. One Folder for All Read Mail

7. One Rule to Filter Out Everything Not to You

8. To Dos – Tickler Lists for Action

9. Schedule Items You Need Time For You can drag+drop mail items to your calendar

10. Reference Views –Folders with Copies of Key Mails

11. More Information

12. Key Concepts • Think of your mail as a stream of potential action or reference • Factor reference from action • Use one folder for all read mail • Route out all mail not directly to you or your immediate world (team, org … etc.) • Triage incoming mail to either do it, queue it, schedule it, or delegate it. • Use daily tickler lists for action items • Schedule items that will take time • Create views using folders and copy (don’t fork) key mails

13. The Why Behind the Approach • If you keep your inbox empty, you avoid paper shuffling (reviewing the same mail more than once, scrolling up and down for actions .. Etc.) • If you keep all your read mail in one folder, you can quickly search, sort, group, … etc. • If you keep a daily tickler list for action, you have a place for action items from your mails. • If you use your daily tickler list for action, you can quickly set your sequence and priorities vs. react to your mail stream. • If you create views by coping key mails into folders, then you keep the integrity of your one folder for all read mail. • If you don’t have to worry about deleting your mail or forking to folders, you avoid death by a 1000 paper cuts. (You can always delete later if you must, but batch and defer it. Otherwise, that little moment of hesitation robs you over time.)

14. Appendix

15. Variation – Online Read Folder for All Read Mail