Merlin Mann – the founder of 43 Folders, not to mention the person credited with coining the “inbox zero” concept – has some tips and advice on how to achieve this.

Firstly, keep your email program closed for most of the day. Instead of having it on in the background, be sure to only open it at scheduled points throughout the day – when you’re actually ready and in a position to tackle your inbox head-on.

During these 20-30 minute periods, get comfortable with that delete button. In fact, the aim should be to separate all your emails into the following categories: delete, delegate, respond, defer or do.

Delete: is the email relevant to you? Does it require any action on your behalf? If the answer is no, then banish it from your inbox, stat.
Delegate: are you the best person to handle this request? If the answer is no, forward it on to someone who is (keep yourself CC’d in and add it to a ‘Delegated’ folder, so you can check on it later).
Respond: can you answer in two minutes or less? If so, Mann suggests doing so, as part of a rule borrowed from David Allen’s popular “Getting Things Done” (GTD) productivity philosophy.
Defer: will it take longer than two minutes? Place in an ‘Action Required’ folder if so, and move on until you’re ready.
Do: if you can act on an email’s request within two minutes, do so.

Of course, while it sounds fun to go on a mass deletion spree, Alcott cautions us not to start the “inbox zero” method before we’ve updated the settings on our email.

“Set your recycling bin not to empty regularly, so that if you accidentally delete things, you can retrieve them easily,” he says.

Fair. And, with that thought in mind, I’m off to close my email program for a few hours.

Wish me luck…

Inbox zero: is this the easiest way to manage our work emails?