Should Inbox Zero Be Your Goal? Probably Not.

Most of the blogs I read about being more productive with email focus on reaching inbox zero. No doubt, it’s a worthy cause, but is it the correct objective for you? Probably not.

Most people struggle with keeping their head above water, never mind capturing the holy grail of inbox management; and what does inbox zero really mean anyway? No emails in your inbox at all? Then what do you do with those mails that you simply can’t answer because you are waiting on someone else for a response? I think most of the zero pushers would say, Convert them into tasks or calendar items. What they mean by that is to go through an amazing amount of arduously administrative dragging, dropping and labeling acrobatics in order for you to proclaim, YES! INBOX ZERO! Honestly, I find that display of compulsivity to be beyond that of my Dutch aunt who used to clean her kitchen cupboards every single week. (Yes, she took out every pasta box, can,...