Inbox Zero for Noobs
What inbox zero is, and why you should use it at work
Email. Everyone’s enemy. Just going into your inbox and seeing hundreds of emails stacked on top of each other. It’s horror.
It doesn’t have to be. Inbox zero is a productivity concept that makes your inbox disappear. The concept is all about having your inbox empty and clean from distractions.
The concept explained
Again, the goal is to have your inbox empty. Inbox zero is centered around not having distractions. So, every day, at a specific time, you would check your inbox. Then, with each mail, you would decide the following actions:
- If it can be done within 3 minutes, do it right now, and once you’re done, archive the email
- If it cannot be done within 3 minutes, and takes longer, place the mail in an “Action Items” label or folder, and then schedule it for later. In Gmail and Outlook, there is an option called snooze so you can only have the email appear later in the day when you have time
- If the email is best suited to be done to someone else, but you are responsible for it, delegate and forward the email to them. Then, apply the label or move it to the “Awaiting Reply” folder.
- If the email is useless, then delete it
- If the email isn’t relevant but may be needed, archive it
- If the email isn’t relevant right now, but you may read the email in the future, move or label the email as “Read through”
Applying it!
Now let’s apply these concepts in our email!
Gmail
1.) Create 3 new labels, “Follow up”, “Read Through”, and “Waiting’
2.) Go to the settings, head over to the Inbox tab, and set the inbox type as “Multiple Inboxes”. Then, customize the settings as I have below:
Now save your changes and see the magic! Your inbox now has multiple inboxes! Each inbox has its purpose, as talked about before, so you can group messages efficiently.
3.) Now head over to the settings again, this time on the General tab. Then, click the option which says, “Go to the next (newer) conversation”. This means that each time you archive some mail, it will automatically advance you to the next piece of mail in your inbox. This is more maximum productivity.
Notes for Gmail:
- In inbox zero, you would move the email to separate folders, like “Action Items”, “Read Through”, and “Awaiting Reply” based on their status. But in Gmail, there are no folders. So, you would apply the label first, then archive it. That way, your label acts like a folder. And since we set up multiple inboxes, you can see everything in your label straight from your inbox tab! Fancy!
- Or, instead, if you want the email in a specific folder, like “Marketing”, but still have the label attached to it, first apply the status label you would like (Action items, read through, and awaiting reply), and then apply the specific label you would like (Marketing, Operations, personal). Finally, archive the email. This way, you can have the same email in multiple “folders”!
Outlook
In Outlook, the process of setting up inbox zero is simpler than in Gmail. First, in Outlook, create three new categories, “Action Item”, “Awaiting Reply”, and “Read Through”. Now that’s it! Simple. Now, just apply these categories to your email, and then either archive them or move your email to a specific folder! Simple!
Notes for Outlook:
- Here, we’re using categories to keep track of the statuses of the email (action item, awaiting reply, read through). You can optionally use a folder instead of categories, however, I prefer categories since my folders are usually projects (marketing, operations, personal)
Caveats of Outlook Inbox Zero:
- A caveat only with Outlook for inbox zero is that you cannot view your email all in separate inboxes like in Gmail. Your emails are just categorized, and then archived or moved to a folder. To get around this, I just search for the email with the specific category. Not perfect, but gets the job done.
Conclusion
There you have it! Leave the fears of email and embrace a clean inbox at work and at home!
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