What do you do with your groceries when you get back from the store?
At my house they sit on the kitchen table for a while. My wife and I pretend to not see them as we wait for each other to put them away. Before the end of the day, though, they get put away in the refrigerator, cupboards and pantry in the garage.
Cluttered kitchens
What if we didn't put them away? Ever? It's ridiculous to think of us digging through bags that were organized by cart-pushers whenever we need the cumin. You can't enjoy a meal eating at a table that is covered with paper and plastic, and we'd likely end up eating our meals in the living room, until the couch and coffee table would get covered when my wife returns from Trader Joe's next week.
So, as I said, we put the groceries away.
Out-of-date emails
So why are our inboxes overflowing with emails from several months ago? It's not a lot different. If you don't put your emails away, but instead work out of your inbox, your inbox will NEVER be cleaned out, and things you need to do will get overlooked. Guaranteed.
I've got recommendations on how to handle your daily flood of emails... after the jump.
I know very few people that keep their inbox clear. This may be the first time you've ever considered emptying your inbox. "Isn't that where email GOES?" Yes, it's where email goes, but it's not where it should stay.
There are books and forum communities dedicated to this very concept. (Getting Things Done by David Allen is a fantastic book which had a pretty big impact on my life.) There can be a lot of complexity in email folder systems. I'll suggest here a basic system in its simplest form.
A Four Folder System
You need an inbox. Unfortunately, emails aren't smart enough to sort themselves.
You need a "reference" folder. Most emails that I get contain information that I need to know, but not anything that I need to act on. I can't really delete them, because I don't have any other way of remembering them. Examples include: instructions on how to access a company database that I'll rarely use, maps, suggestions for a project that I won't be starting anytime soon, etc. If you've read it and need to keep it, but don't have to do anything about it, put it in the reference folder.
You need a "waiting on" folder. This is for stuff that you'll need to do something about, but not yet. Maybe a customer that needs to be called next month after his equipment arrives, maybe a link for a document that you need to review after a teammate finishes writing it.
Lastly, you'll need an "actionable" folder. This is for stuff that you can actually do now. Here's the trick, though. Even though you can do it now, you don't do it until you move it FROM the inbox TO the actionable folder. Get it? You work out of the actionable folder, NOT the inbox.
If you work in the inbox, you are constantly in reaction mode. Incoming ads from Eddie Bauer are given the same importance as email from your biggest client.
Relaxation
The payoff? When it's almost time to punch out for the day, you can take a quick peek at your actionable folder and decide if there are any timebombs that will blow up before you get back to work the next morning. If there aren't, you can walk away from your email for the day with a clear mind.
Do you have any other inbox suggestions or email challenges you haven't overcome? Join the discussion in the comments.
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