How to achieve Inbox Zero (and how MAIL MASTER can help you get there)

A quick Google search on Inbox Zero will come up with a plethora of articles, blogs and websites that will offer advice on how you can achieve it.

The premise behind Inbox Zero is that all emails fall into one of five categories:

1. Delete/Archive

2. Delegate

3. Respond

4. Do

5. Defer

The idea being to get everything out of your inbox as quickly as possible by either filing (archiving) it, passing it on to someone else, converting it to a "to do list" item or responding to it.

One blog on the topic of Inbox Zero (read it here) uses the flow chart on the left to describe the process of dealing with incoming email.

The first question it suggests you ask is whether an email is actionable. The problem is that to make that decision you first have to read the email and, having read it you have to file, archive or delete it - all of which takes time. Given that as many as 60% of all emails fall into this category, the time taken deciding whether or not an email is actionable could be considerable. MAIL MASTER can save you this time by ensuring you only receive the emails where you have an action. The other emails are automatically filed/archived should you need to refer to them at a later date, which leaves you free to focus on what you do with those emails you do receive. Because MAIL MASTER focuses on only sending emails to those responsible for the actions there should be a lot less to delegate which should leave you with the choice of whether to respond now or later. A rough rule of thumb is that if it will take less than two minutes to respond do so immediately, if not defer it to later (but don't forget to set aside time in which to complete the task).

We conservatively believe that MAIL MASTER will cut the time you spend on email by 25%. To find out what that really means in terms of time and money why not check out our Email Calculator.

For most of us actually achieving Inbox Zero is a bit like nirvana (no it doesn't Smell like Teen Spirit). We can't guarantee that you'll get there by using MAIL MASTER but it'll certainly help you get a lot closer.