Your Life is An Inbox

... during the day can be an effective way to keep your inbox at manageable levels.

However, the constant interruption and distraction that comes from it can dramatically lower your productivity, and disrupt your ability to enter a state of flow when working on high value projects.

• Try using the "Two-Minute Rule" when you read your mail: if the email will take less than two minutes to read and reply to, then take care of it right now, even if it's not a high priority.
• For emails that will take longer than two minutes to read or respond to, schedule time on your calendar, or add this as an action on your To-Do List , to do later. 

1. Instead of checking your email endlessly, limit the number of times you check your inbox. 
2. Get things out of your email and onto your to-do list: If an email requires action beyond a response, then add that task to your to-do list where it belongs.
3. Don’t read email, act on it: File, respond, or delete. Otherwise, you are just compounding the mess in your inbox for later.
4. Close your email program.
5. Keep your emails short and to the point. As well, ensure your “ask” is in the first line.
6. Turn off the notifications: They interrupt your day and encourage you to stop your work to check your inbox.
7. Don’t check email on your mobile device: If you are using your phone for communication, utilize more immediate forms of communication such as Slack, iMessage, and more. 

There’s no “definitive” system. The best framework is the one that works for you. Ideally, it should model your work style, supporting the way you work. Bonus points if it’s low-maintenance, fast to set up, and adaptable as your work changes.

Some people like to use folders with specific actions (do, delegate, reply), while others prefer the deadline-driven approach (today, tomorrow, next week).

Some examples:

• Undo Send: for when you accidentally press the send button.
• Canned Responses: create a template that you can reuse with canned responses.
• Send and Archive: Automatically archive an email after replying to it using the send and archive button.