When you finally decide you’re going to empty your inbox on a regular basis, the hardest part is getting started—most likely because you’re already buried under an avalanche of messages. Blogger Jason Clarke offers a sensible approach to that first, most difficult push towards Inbox Zero, and he calls it Inbox 0.5. Clarke says that you can cut down a huge pile of messages without losing an entire weekend by processing HALF the number of backed up messages you’ve got each day. So if you’re starting with 700, reduce that to 350 the first day. If you’ve got 400 the next day, reduce that to 200. Rinse and repeat till you’ve conquered the backlog and are just maintaining an empty inbox with new mail that arrives.
We all get them—emails that are supposed to answer a question, or advance an idea, but instead cover your screen with imposing paragraphs of filler and beg to be shoved in the “Later” bin. The Anywired work blog recommends forcing yourself to tackle those messages immediately, but by using a simple mental filter: Scan the email until you can sum up its purpose in a sentence—for example, “They’re telling me they like my portfolio and found it inspiring,” or “They hate my guts because of that post I wrote.” Then respond to the sentence you’ve defined, rather than the email as a whole.
You should, of course, also look to see who the email is from, but the “single sentence” rule is something I’ve been doing mentally ever since I received my first corporate email account. How do you distill long emails down to quick-response messages? Share your tips in the comments.
How to Meet and Defeat Long Emails [Anywired]
