The same with email, except in this case the container is my FireFox window. I answer email more or less twice a day and I make sure I clear it out to about 10 to 15 messages max before I go on.

Of course, things that are related to other things I do during the day I work on during those scheduled moments and not in the email moment (like I need to add a page to my website and the reminder from someone is in my Inbox until I do it – it’s scheduled for later this week).

I think Inbox Zero is an extreme and extremes never work for long. We need to be flexible and at least slightly moderate.
.-= Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog ..Turning Off The Autopilot: Six Ways to Bring Creativity to Daily Life =-.

I’ve been working on relaxing with where I am instead of where I need to be. I try to clear out my inbox and it’s all I can focus on. Instead I just give myself a limit of 30 minutes and knock out the most important emails first and whatever I don’t get to will hopefully be a part of my next block of email time. That way I still have time for breakthroughs that really help my audience.

Great perspective! Thanks.
.-= Karl Staib – Work Happy Now´s last blog ..The Hard, The Fun, and The Beautiful – Puffy Smile Edition =-.

@Jonathan: Balance is definitely the key, as well as keeping the end in mind. All too often, the end of Inbox Zero becomes focused on getting to zero, instead of getting clarity and perspective, and, as a result, our balance gets thrown off.

@Fabeku: Thanks, Sound Ninja! Since you have Email Triage, you can tell that I’m now going back through and explaining why it works – or at least why I presented the information as I did. And one of the best compliments I can ever receive is that something that I recommend or develop works and makes sense.

@Mike: I’ll have something soon that addresses mid-phase processing that I think you’ll like. Mid-phase processing seems to provide clarity, and for some people it does, but it also increases cognitive overhead. But I’ll explain this in detail within the next couple of weeks.

@Airwhale: My post is definitely opinionated, but it’s also harnessing a few years of experience with GTD. Since some of what you say here will be in the post I just referenced in my reply to Mike, I should probably point you to my post Why GTD Contexts Are More Work Than They’re Worth. You may be able to see where I’m going with it.

@Haider: I was on an interview yesterday, and the interviewer let me know about her experience interviewing David Allen – I’m well-versed in GTD & Allen’s work, but I’m glad you brought up the context for people who aren’t, which I often forget to do. Anyway, to make a long story short, David files each discrete message that requires work into its own folder; at the time, he had 100 sum-odd folders with messages in them.

That may work for David, but after years of working with people, I can tell you that causes a lot of falling down.

The idea is that having each message filed away in a specific context provides clarity, but I think it may be a bump in a rug problem. To get clarity, you institute a more complex system – but that system comes at a cost. We have the option of going the other way, a simpler system with less discreteness, without the costs of maintaining a more complex system. If you’re curious about this idea, check out the linked post above and Simplicity, Complexity, and Productivity.

I think it’s important to acknowledge the problem Inbox Zero is intended to tackle, before you can think of ways to use it and if it applies to your situation.

The problem with your inbox is that it contains different types of emails. Some that are intended for reference, others require a response, while others might need some offline action (as you pointed out).

Keeping all these emails in your inbox doesn’t indicate what you’ll be doing with them, and how you’ll respond to each email. Therefore, you will experience some mental fuzziness towards them, because you haven’t specifically and explicitly defined what you’ll do with them. This will create what David “GTD Guy” Allen calls “open loops” that can drain you of energy and attention, as well as cause you stress.

Inbox Zero is where you process your inbox so you know exactly what to do about each message, and removing “processed” messages from your inbox (which should only be used to receive incoming messages).

Alternatively, you can choose to simply label your emails, rather than filing or archiving them.

It’s also important to distinguish between processing your inbox and getting stuff done. When you process you don’t have to do. You simply make a note of what you have to do. When you finish processing, you can then choose to take on whichever task you choose to work on.

First point:
The driving force behind getting your inbox(es) to zero is to reduce the mental stress that builds up when the brain is trying to juggle a lot of incomplete “stuff” that you are not clear about what to do with. Your inbox will contain a multitude of different information, of varying importance and urgency. When you don’t quite know what’s in there and what that means to you, negative stress might be a result.

As for the “Hamper Zero” metaphor, while funny, I think it breaks because your defined “Next action” for everything in there is well defined, clearly decided and even the same for all garments: “Do laundry”.

Second point:
If you have an otherwise working system where you work according to a set of general rules, it’s also just fine to break those rules as long as you feel comfortable and can maintain the level of control you want.

Just yesterday, I actually left my inbox at 2 read email (!) because that was the place where I felt I would most quickly get back to them and do the required processing.

peace,
airwhale

But Hamper Zero, now that’s compelling. I’m going to have a discussion with my wife about that. I’m sure that the joy of the empty hamper far outweighs the wasted energy of washing fractional loads of laundry
.-= Mike Stankavich´s last blog ..Home Networking Versus Voluntary Simplicity =-.

And since, like lots of folks, wrangling my inbox can feel like a major challenge, I totally appreciate this post.

I’ve felt a certain pressure to achieve the whole Inbox Zero thing. And I never have. Not once.

And though I hadn’t put it together in my head, this is one reason why your Email Triage works so well for me. I can do what makes sense and what works, even if that means I have 43 or 82 or 247 messages left in my inbox when I’m finished.

Awesome.

And the Hamper Zero bit? That made me laugh. Out loud.

Thanks Charlie.