Inbox zero

What It Means

Inbox zero is a way of handling email that aims to bring the inbox down to empty and keep it there. Writer Merlin Mann laid it out in a 2006 series on his site, 43 FoldersTickler fileA set of 43 folders, 31 for the days of the month and 12 for the months, where you file papers and reminders to reappear on the date you need them. See more, covering the skills, tools and attitude it takes. Each message gets a quick decision about what it needs, and once that's decided it leaves the inbox, so the inbox holds only mail you haven't looked at yet.

How People Say It

• "I finally got to inbox zero before the weekend."
• "Give me twenty minutes to clear my inbox."
• "I haven't seen inbox zero since March."

The Breakdown

How to do it

1. Set aside times for email. Mann's series includes a post titled "Schedule email dashes", which puts processing mail on a schedule of its own.
2. Start by deleting. An early post in the series is titled "Delete, delete, delete".
3. For each message that's left, ask what the action is. Mann's post "What's the action here?" puts that question at the center, borrowing from David Allen's Getting Things DoneGetting Things DoneDavid Allen's productivity system, from his book Getting Things Done, for capturing everything on your mind and deciding the next action on each item. See more.
4. Answer the quick ones on the spot, move anything that needs real work into your task listTo-do listA written list of the tasks you plan to do, checked or crossed off as each one is finished. See more, and file what you only need to keep.
5. When the inbox is empty, close it until the next session.

Steps 4 and 5 are this page's suggestion for putting the idea to work.

Try it today. Give your inbox one 20-minute session. Delete everything you can first, then work down the rest, deciding what each message needs before you move to the next.

If the backlogProduct backlogIn Scrum, the ordered list of everything needed to improve a product, and the single source of work for the Scrum Team. See more is huge. Move everything older than a few weeks into a folder named "Old inbox", then practice the method on what's new. You can search the old folder whenever you need something from it.

Where It Comes From

Merlin Mann, the writer behind 43 Folders, a site about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work, published the Inbox Zero series in March and April 2006. By his site's description, the approach draws heavily on David Allen's Getting Things Done.

Good to Know

Reaching zero is about deciding what each message needs, and a message can leave the inbox as a reply, a task, a filed note or a deletion. If keeping the inbox empty turns into checkingChecking accountA bank or credit union account for everyday money going in and out, used by debit card, checks, transfers and direct deposit. See more it every few minutes, go back to set sessions, the email dashes of Mann's series.

Related Terms and Categories

• Getting Things Done

  David Allen's productivity system, from his book Getting Things Done, for capturing everything on your mind and deciding the next action on each item.

• Task batching

  Grouping similar small tasks, such as email, calls or errands, and doing them together in one block of time instead of scattering them through the day.

• Email etiquette

  The shared habits that make work email clear and courteous, from a specific subject line and short paragraphs to careful use of reply all.

• Context switching

  Moving your attention from one task to another and back, which costs time and focus each time your mind has to reset for the new task.

• Digital decluttering

  Clearing out what has piled up on your phone, computer and accounts, or Cal Newport's 30-day break from optional tech that brings back only what earns its place.

Productivity methods and focus