A Clean Inbox, Every Time – Yes, you can!

A Clean Inbox, Every Time – Yes You Can!

One of the keys to a well-managed inbox is to have the correct mindset. By having a mindset that your inbox will be empty after every time you view it, you will go a long way to achieving your priorities.

Holding messages in your e-mail inbox “just to make sure you don’t lose them” is a productivity sapper. Not only will you spend more time scrolling up and down, trying to decide which message you will work on next, but you will most likely read and reread and perhaps even mark an item “unread” to remind yourself to read it at another time. Finally, upon opening your e-mail first thing in the morning, all those items in the inbox can become an immediate source of stress over how much work you have to do and how much work you may not be able to get done.

This week, make a pact with yourself to empty your inbox every time you view it. This doesn’t mean working the task delivered by each message- it means evaluating it, and moving it to a folder where you can triage your work most effectively. This action allows you to take control of the process, rather than allowing those messages to stress you out.

Today’s Tip: Empty your inbox each time you view it. Start at the top, and move to the next item only after the top item is deleted, filed, or sorted to be worked on at an appropriate time.