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Last active August 29, 2015 13:57
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inbox_zero.md

My Inbox zero system

  1. Check email

  2. Does the email warrant any interest/time at all?
    No? archive it immediately (e in Gmail).

  3. Is the email just informational?
    Read it. Archive it.

  4. Does the email require something which can be done quickly (< 2 mins) right now?
    Do it, then archive it.

  5. Does the email require a bit of thought before replying?
    Star it (s), then archive it.

  6. Mute (m) is a wonderful thing. Use it liberally.

Using this simple process your Inbox (g then i) should be consistently empty, and your starred items (g then s) should be a simple to-do list of things that need doing in age order.

Note: I use very few filters, and only one label across my entire inbox. All my filters, bar one, auto-archive email matching certain criteria. The other one applies certain emails with a label.

Do not have email notifications on your phone (or even on your desktop if you can get away with it). There are very few emails that need to be handled right now.

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