Getting the Inbox under control

As long term readers of my blog know, I am a fan of manager-tools.com (even though I don't like the name, since it is as much about professional effectiveness as it is management, see also here for previous posts on their best podcasts).

In recent years I have found that the casts have gotten a little short on content - typically, the team have 1-2 key messages and get them covered in the first 5 minutes - but I guess this is as much a question of learning style (multiple reptitions). This week's cast (here) is a good one.

The messages are few and simple, but do make sense:

• plan to do your email at regular times only (and not all the time when you are at your desk) 
• budget time in accordance with the priority that you give to mail 
• work through all your mails in this time, even if that simply means creating an action for an email and filing the actual email away, or responding that you will respond once you have time 
• switch off the auto-download of mails 

These recommendations are completely in keeping the the GTD ("Getting Things Done") model and, in particular, the psychological impact of having a clear inbox (even if it simply means that the actions are in their appropriate lists) is definitely a winner for me.

I am constantly impressed by a smart colleague of mine that literally deletes all mails that she does not absolutely need (including her own sent mail) and saves key messages into her normal filing structure - she never needs long to find what she needs and in 6 years I have only once had to provide her with an email that she had overzealously deleted.

Too often keeping up with emails becomes a task in itself and it simply should not be. This is just good common sense.

In the interests of full disclosure - I have tried this several times over the last few years, but never managed to be this strict. Hopefully, practice will make perfect...