Inbox Zero - Part 1

Do you struggle with a cluttered inbox?

In a nutshell, Inbox Zero is the concept that you can quite happily operate with literally nothing in your e-mail inbox. There are many ways you can achieve this, but they all involve moving messages from your inbox into a limited set of other folders or systems. Basically, what you are committing to by going to Inbox Zero is the concept that everything requiring follow-up is actioned and that your inbox ceases to become a to do list. I've named this post "Part 1" because I want to keep this post short, and allow a deeper dive into my approach in the future.

I've been using e-mail for about 16 years, and after trying many systems think I have finally found an e-mail management approach which enables me to work with a large volume of e-mail at maximum efficiency. I use Outlook 2010 (which is fantastic, by the way!), but this system will work with any e-mail client including web-based e-mail platforms like Gmail. Please note that while I didn't invent the concept of Inbox Zero, I did develop my own methods based on my particular requirements. Here are some of the pre-requisites if you want to achieve Inbox Zero:

• You need an e-mail platform with excellent search capabilities - Outlook 2007 / Outlook 2010 (with Exchange 2007 / Exchange 2010) or Google Apps / Gmail are the two most likely candidates
• You are committed to finding other ways of tracking follow-up activities than your inbox.
• You are willing to implement some form of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform such as Microsoft CRM, SalesForce.com, etc.
• You acknowledge that your inbox can be a bottomless pit, and that frequently items fall through the cracks
• You are committed to tackling your inbox vigilantly and relentlessly. Failure to do so means you'll soon be at Inbox One Thousand again!

Here is my simple approach:

• Implement a CRM or contact management system. Without the ability to connect activities, follow-ups, opportunities, service requests, etc. with an actual client record, you will have a tough time implementing Inbox Zero. We use an industry-specific system called ConnectWise which provides all of the features we need for basic contact management. There are a multitude of solutions available, varying from cloud-based solutions such as Microsoft CRM Online, Zoho, SalesForce.com to on-premise systems like Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Maximizer, ACT! and many others. They also vary greatly in cost and complexity - if you're interested in understanding more about these solutions and how they might apply to your business, please do not hesitate to contact us. We don't directly provide these services, but can often make recommendations based on your requirements.
• Take a backup of your e-mail. I will not be held responsible for any damages / loss of productivity you incur as a result of taking my advice, so please take a full backup (or have your IT group do it for you) prior to engaging in these large sweeping changes to your inbox.
• Create a folder called Archive. This folder will contain every e-mail item you have finished dealing with in the past few years months. You will notice in the screenshot below that I have a sub-folder created for 2003-2008. This is because I rarely need items from 2008 and earlier. Keeping the number of items within a particular folder has historically resulted in better performance when browsing/searching that folder in the Microsoft world, however, this is an old habit that is not really required especially if you are using Outlook 2010 and Exchange 2010. If you're a Gmail user you can optionally use the archive option which hides the item permanently and makes it available for search.
• Get rid of all your other folders and sub-folders. Yes, that's right - you don't need them! If you think you need all of those folders to find stuff, you are fooling yourself. You will be better able to locate historical e-mails using the search features built into your e-mail client with a smaller set of folders. Set some time aside outside of business hours / your busy time to re-organize your inbox.
• Get rid of every item in your inbox. Sounds difficult, does it? This is where you need to learn to slice and dice your inbox like a ninja. Sort by conversation, sorting by "From", sorting by Date, etc. and as you run across items that literally require nothing from you, move them to the Archive folder. If you or someone on your team needs to follow-up on something (e.g. waiting for response), create an activity in your CRM with a date assigned. If it's something minor (e.g. I want to take this training course, maybe next quarter) I suggest you use a personal task manager for this, again with a date assigned. Outlook has the ability to flag items with a particular date, after which it will appear in your future tasks and the item can be peacefully archived.
• Process new e-mail messages in real-time, but in batch. You should consider closing your e-mail client when you are supposed to be working on something else. Constant new e-mail notifications are distracting and will prevent you from getting structured work done. The frequency at which you deal with incoming messages depends on your ability to multi-task effectively. I check e-mail frequently (between tasks) but rarely acknowledge notification pop-ups, as tempting as they are. I've heard some that open e-mail as infrequently as once or twice per day (e.g. 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM) and have seen a tremendous reduction in stress, not to mention being able to "shape" how those who interact with you reach out.
• Delete useless e-mail. If it's something that you will never need, consider deleting it!
• Archive e-mail requiring no action. If it requires no action on your part, move it immediately to the Archive folder and consider yourself informed. Frequently, these are e-mails where I've been CC'd or BCC'd and have nothing to add to the conversation. I may want to call back on these items in the future so I archive rather than delete them.
• Create follow-up activities in CRM, etc. Move things into your CRM platform and manage your CRM platform with vigilance (this, of course, is another management issue entirely) or use personal tasks to track important follow-ups that are specific to you and NOT connected to people you interact with in your business. If you choose to keep things in your own personal island of information, be aware that you are creating an island and limiting the ability for others in your company to help you achieve your goals. By actioning tasks in your CRM platform, you are making things easier for yourself!
• Learn how to use your CRM platform effectively. This is beyond the scope of this post, but needless to say if you are moving things into a CRM system, you better know how to use it and manage it vigilantly as well!

In the interest of keeping this post of reasonable length, I'll leave it there for now and will continue on in part 2. I hope you have been able to extract a couple of useful tips for managing your inbox. Since implementing this approach, I can honestly say that I have had zero items slip through the cracks!