Why an Empty Inbox is Productivity at Its Finest

Posted on June 10, 2010 by admin

(Article is less than 350 words)

As many of you will see, this post ties back in to my progress to fulfill my dreams and eliminate that which is not promoting such which was explained in Now or Never.

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From March 2009 until November 2009, I strictly worked from a 10 inch MSI Netbook. The portability was amazing while traveling abroad. Yet there was one major problem. The notion that I could have everything open and ready to go within seconds led me to leave every window saved and my inbox bloated. Then my desktop arrived.

Many may think that a desktop, let alone the fact that I have two monitors tied in, wouldn’t be minimalistic. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Over a 5 hour span when my new desktop arrived, I was able to accomplish the following:

  • Categorize All Files and Folders Properly
  • Eliminate the Clutter of the Taskbar
  • Most Importantly….Zero Out the Inbox

This action has saved me countless hours of searching (wandering?!) through misplaced and unorganized general folders. Like noted, the most important aspect was the elimination of a crowded inbox.

E-mail holds us back more than it moves us forward. It has allowed us to over communicate inefficiently. Do I get spam and random useless emails daily? Sure, I do. But the inbox is cleared out immediately now.

Why is this Important?

I address each email right then and when I leave a few in there, I feel its tug to be replied or addressed. By addressing the need of each email, which also means deleting 90% of it, it is one less worry when I am not on my email.

Over the last roughly 8 months I have done this, I have been able to move forward with tasks I need and want to rather than have this little person on my shoulder telling me that I need to get this or that done from my inbox.

Am I perfect? Absolutely not. Is it a step to peace and productive actions? You better believe it.

From here, I am working on reducing the email checking habit slowly but surely. Our society has made it difficult to change these things, but doing so is necessary to your happiness.

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  • I'm working on this right now....Inbox overload sucks...
  • I'm going to go through my inbox this weekend and archive it down to ZERO! And I'm with you about checking it less. Batching is an amazing productivity tool, and its so easy to implement on email. best of luck to you
  • Nice post. This reminds me of Randy Pausch (http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu... if you haven't heard of this guy before--he was awesome) talking about how his wife would tell him "it's time to empty the inbox" when seemed stressed out.
  • daviddamron
    Randy Pausch was an amazing person. Its sad he isn't around still to give us a slap in the face to help realize what life is all about.

    David Damron
    TMP
  • I like a clean inbox as well... however, being obsessed about having a 0 count in your inbox is unproductive because every time an e-mail comes in you have to stop what you're doing and take care of the e-mail... you've lost focus.
  • daviddamron
    Hey Joshua---

    You are right. If you have your email on and always clear it ASAP, it is a major distraction. That's why I turn email off. I check my email once an hour now and hopefully less over the next few weeks.

    Thanks for your comment. I really like your site TeamBestBros

    David Damron
    TMP
  • I like working from a desktop computer. I've never found a netbook or laptop that I really like. I can type much faster on my desktop keyboard, and that's important to me.

    I leave email open and process it immediately when I'm home. When I'm out, I rarely even check it. I'm inconsistent, but at least I'm not ALWAYS checking my mail. What could I possibly get that's so important?
  • daviddamron
    Hey Gip----

    I am similar to you. I will eventually try to move primarily to a laptop (MacBook Pro...hopefully) but right now there is too much to do to perform it all on a netbook. Plus, with all of the design things I do with my sites, it is just easier with a desktop.

    As for email, I am trying to just check it once an hour. I don't check it unless I am at my desktop as well so that helps, but I am usually at home so I still catch myself checking it 14 hours a day.

    David
    TMP
  • daviddamron
    Well, this focus was more on the aspect of having a home base. I maybe should have clarified that more. When I had my netbook, I had the mentality that organization would slow me down. Should a netbook have stopped me from slowing down? No. Should it have kept me from being organized? No. I am not saying you have to have a PC nor am I saying you have to have a Mac. I am just saying that bringing focus and organization is easier and more effective when you have to "work". For me, it is easier having a desktop that I can go to and see everything I need to see. Are netbooks perfect for others? Sure. I know at least 10 people who run their businesses online via a 12 inch or less laptop. It is all about what works for you. I think my system set up works for me and think many others might be productive if they were to take my approach. Is my approach perfect? H*** No! But it works.

    Thanks for your comment. My goal this year is to purchase a MacBook so I can finally truly judge mac to pc for myself. As of now, I love PC a lot more than Mac but things can change. I am always open to change.

    David
    TMP
  • The Gunslinger
    Ok, I got you now. Thanks for clarifying. I'm really glad you're taking this "all in" approach (referring to your last post, Now or Never, I think). I had a similar rude awakening about 6 months ago. I just woke up one morning and thought to myself, everything I do is meaningless. If I died right now, I would not leave anything of value behind on this earth. I had plans for so many projects, but none of them were getting done. I would play World of Warcraft for several hours a day. So that morning, I deleted my WoW account, began the 100 Things Challenge, and pretty much took the fast track to minimalism.

    As it stands now, I finished an art series that is going to be featured as the "Artist of the Month" back to back at my two favorite coffee shops. I'm finally recording some of my music this summer; I've been playing for 7 years but just now have gotten the courage and confidence to record something.

    Needless to say, we need these wake-up calls every once in a while. It's almost like a psychological defense mechanism. I wish you the best of luck in accomplishing your goals, I'd hate to see this site go down. My bookmarks bar would look so empty without it!

    I just moved to wordpress from freewebs, and have a lot of my art on there. I'll email the URL if you like; I feel some kinship to you having experienced a similar situation and feel I can trust you with the URL even though it's still under construction and will be until I purchase a proper domain for it.
  • daviddamron
    Send the link my way. Maybe I can feature some post with your art in it.

    Its crazy how one thing (in your case, WOW) can be so detrimental to your progress as a human. Mine has been news. I love news and it is a major downfall. Luckily I have kicked that habit and am doing much better.

    I am glad I was able to clarify more in my response. Thanks for great comments with a lot of detail. By the way....whats your real name Gunslinger

    Until the next post...

    David Damron
    TMP
  • The Gunslinger
    I don't think I understood the part about the desktop being easier to organize than the netbook. If you ever get a new comp sometime in the near future, a good "meet me in the middle" solution to a desktop would be an Apple Mac Mini. It is very small, has up to 500GB of storage and up to 4GB of memory, and is the most energy efficient desktop in the world. It doesn't come with a monitor, but why should it? You can just plug it into your HDTV and leave it down there; an Xbox 360 is more than twice as big. It's the most minimalistic desktop I can think of.
  • The Gunslinger
    No, I'm not an Apple employee.
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