I try to keep my Inbox clear, at a minimum emptying it every night.
Ideally, whenever I check mail, I go through each item in my Inbox and do one of five things with it after reading it:
- Delete it.
- Save it in a single History folder; see Monday’s post.
- Respond to it — and then apply action #1 or #2 above.
- Delegate it — except that I’m no longer running a department, so this no longer applies.
- Move it to my calendar with a specific time to work on it — and then apply action #1, #2, or #3 above.
The reality for me is that I sometimes get a mail I want to think about for a time before responding; that mail stays in my Inbox. If at the end of the workday I still don’t know what I want to do or how to respond, I put it on my calendar and then delete or save it, sometimes after a quick “”I’ll get back to you soon”" response.
If I check mail after I’ve finished my “workday,” e.g., before going to bed, I may respond and then delete/save it; otherwise, I will leave it in my Inbox as part of tomorrow’s mail… but I will get it out of there by the end of the day.
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Some people prefer using task lists to calendars. I’ve tried to do that any number of times, but it never seems to work as well. Calendar items synch more easily with my smartphone, and I like having my To Do items in one place. I’m not averse to grabbing a calendar To Do and moving it out a few hours or even a day or so, though I recognize that repeatedly postponing something I actually have time to do is a sign I don’t want to do it!
