Okay, I’m not even sure I want a completely empty inbox, but Download Squad has some useful suggestions for downsizing your inbox,
- If you don’t need to read it now, it shouldn’t be in your inbox.
- If you’ve already responded to it, it shouldn’t be in your inbox.
- If it comes from a known source (some person, retailer or mailing list that sends you mail more often than once every few months) it should be labeled automatically.
- No one needs to look at their own inbox more than once an hour (and for many, once every 2-3 hours).
- To borrow from the cult of GTD, re-factor constantly and mercilessly
The article expands on how to actually do each of the above. For my part, I receive so much e-mail that I’m happy if I can keep my inbox under 100 e-mails.