How the amount of items in our inbox influences us- Share your experiences!

[Karl Ivar]

Hello, everybody!

I think it´s so important to realise how 1-1,5 hours a day of processing our inbox influences our productivity, stress-level/quality of living, ability to focus, to see opportunities, etc, etc.

Therefore, this topic is thought to be a place where we can share our experiences when we manage to do this- how it feels when be both manage to capture everything that has our attention and through regularly processing keep the inbox close to zero, and how it feels when we don´t manage this, and the inbox just grows and grows and becomes a mountain of unprocessed stuff.

I hope as many as possible will share their thoughts- both when you´ve succeeded and when you did not, and how it felt.

Bring it on!!

 

[Karl Ivar]

Since no one has posted during the last 30 minutes, or so since I started this topic, I´ll start…

I´ve had many times when my Omnifocus-inbox was so full that not even the number of the items was shown in the program, and it stayed like this for long time. My paper-inbox was so full, that when I was going on tour (I work as a Musician), I didn´t bring all of it, because I´d never manage to get through all of it during the journey, and I also didn´t want to carry it..

During these times, I often felt more tired, nummed, overwhelmed, tending to rather browse the internet or watch youtube-videos, than do work. It was as if I couldn´t really concentrate. Before I started with GTD seven years ago, this was the only state I knew, and I didn´t think I could work or concentrate any better.

During this period of a constantly totally overfilled inbox, I steadily blocked out “processing-days” where I went through it all in a 10-12 Hours processing-Marathon- often during long train rides. After that, It felt amazing, and I was full of energy. Unfortunately, I didn´t manage to establish the habit of processing several times a day, and it started to pile up again.

The feeling when you make it… It´s something very fascinating, I think. As soon as you have it under control, and everything you throw in there will be on your action-list as fast as you need to- (depending on your job/your own expectations), strange things start to happen, to my opinion…

For me, when I manage this, I instantly feel lighter, more awake, happy, not stressed at all. For me, that´s the best thing about it. But then, according to this, I start to get creative Ideas on almost anything in my life, and I then find much faster and smarter ways to complete my projects. The goals them selves also get very much clearer- or when I get unexpected input, I´m much more capable of seeing exactly what this is, and what needs to be done about it.

I think it´s fascinating that making decisions on the notes “cats”, “health insurance” and “this flat is too cold!!!” can help us move forward on the preparation for our next meeting, but that´s how it is in my experience. I´ve read the scientific explanation about it, but I still think it´s very strange that it works this way. Just as I can´t stop being amazed that a huge Jet-Plane can take off, climb to 30 000 feet and stay there for hours…

 

[Folke]

I usually deal with my email and physical inboxes several times a day. It has always been a natural top priority for me to keep that under control. But of course, if I get sick or travel etc, it can pile up, and i agree it is nice to get it sorted out.

 

[Longstreet]

I too have experienced relief of having processed all of the things out of my inboxes and made decisions. I do this like Folke several times during the day; otherwise, things back up and create the stress you described, Karl Ivar!

 

[GTD-Sweden]

I have my periods when I get my inbox to zero every 24 hours. Its a great feeling, when I manage it.

However, often I have such hectic weeks that I have to focus on the doing. And the processing is made the days before the WR. The important thing is to get the inbox to zero when I start the WR.

Personally I am not that dependent of getting it to zero. Im used often not to so I guess its a habit. For me the most important thing in the GTD system is to make Allens 11-step WR so I block out time for that.

But, I understand that it is the same time used both if you process at one time or if you do it between the lines. So I hope I will be able to get this more into the stride of my life.

 

[Gardener]

I increasingly try to distinguish between (1) inbox items and (2) thoughts, and demote as many things as possible to "thoughts" To put it another way, I declare most incoming stuff to be someday/maybe (or, really, below someday/maybe), and make a structure for occasionally promoting things to projects. That seems to take me less time and cause me less annoyance then letting those items start as potentially actionable, doing the work of making them action and project-like, and then demoting them to someday/maybe.

For example, let's say that my inbox would, without this effort, contain:

- Candystick delicata as summer squash?
- Chambray shorts
- Pattern from that black shirt
- Alice Munro?
- That first Holmes/Russell book
- Figure out how to use up zucchini
- More weed barrier

and so on and so on. Instead, I have lists, outside my action lists, where I try to enter this stuff directly:

Reading thoughts
- Alice Munro?
- That first Holmes/Russell book

Garden thoughts
- Candystick delicata as summer squash?
- Figure out how to use up zucchini
- More weed barrier

Sewing thoughts
- Chambray shorts
- Pattern from that tunic

Then the GTD system would have a repeating weekly action:

- Go through Thoughts lists

This week, "more weed barrier" would get upgraded to a project, because I need some. Everything else would sit in lists.

There are also lists that are a level further away from action, that don't get checked on a weekly basis--Seeds to Try, Perfumes to Sniff, Books to Read, Sewing Projects and so on.

 

[PeterW]

Karl Ivar - yes, I have a similar experience. The more that is in my inbox, the more I resist dealing with it. I also have the same feeling of relief when I get the inbox under control.

I am currently doing a masters degree while working full time and having a busy family life. As I progress through each uni subject, submit assignments and prepare for the final exam, a fair amount of anxiety builds up over the semester because there is so much to do and I usually haven't been organised enough about how I will tackle it.

When I walk out of that exam room knowing that I've done well enough to pass, it's a great feeling of relief and completion that lasts for a number of days. It's like walking on air. But about a week later my brain has started to engage with the next subject in the course, how much work there is to do etc, and I am starting to feel anxious again about how I will fit it all of this study in with my life.

For the current subject that started just over 2 weeks ago, I set up a more detailed project plan in Omnifocus with everything broken down into smaller chunks. Instead of starting the assignments a week before they're due, I began from week 1, answering questions as soon as I'd covered the material in each chapter. This has helped me to stay in front of the schedule, feel comfortable about what's got to be done and therefore left me feeling much more calm. Dealing with your "stuff" - appropriately - definitely leads to a "mind like water".

 

[S-Tolland]

I would definitely echo the comments about a clear inbox bringing relief and a clearer mind. When I first started GTD the biggest reason for implementing the methodology was to deal with my email inbox and keep it clear. After that first "big bang" to get everything set up, email has been my biggest success in terms of sticking to my task and keeping it clear.

One of the more unexpected results of this has been how others interact with me and their expectations. Consistently processing my inbox and using the 2-min rule means that my colleagues can trust that if they send me a task via email to be done, they know it will be done. And because it comes via email, I can make a decision based on my workload about how and when I action it without the interruption of someone walking into the office.

 

[Dave Edwards]

I also try to clear my e-mail inbox to zero every day or so. In fact, having just returned from vacation, I am a bit anxious knowing that it will take several days to achieve zero.

Most people know that I don't check my email throughout the day...so I've lowered the bar for any expectation of a quick response. I always tell people that email is not like an instant-message.

The best thing I have ever done is to create emakil filters. Emails on which I am 'cc'd' on go into a separate folder. They are not my priority. I also use a different email account for subscriptions to newsletters. They are not my priority.

And when I am away, I tell my senior managers to put the work URGENT in the subject line of any message that truly deserves my immediate attention. No one else knows that (well except you guys). That really helps. We used to have an employee who flagged all of her emails as 'priority'. Most people learned to ignore them.

Dave

 

[devon.marie]

[...] and how it feels when we don´t manage this, and the inbox just grows and grows and becomes a mountain of unprocessed stuff.

This is the absolute worst feeling. I actually manifest physical symptoms, the anxiety is so terrible - heartburn, increased heart rate, inability to focus, crankiness, etc. Therefore, I begin EVERY single day clearing out my inboxes. I don't even slack off for one day, the anxiety is so strong. Once they're cleaned out, I can focus all day on just getting work done. It's truly a relief.

 

[ejones]

So let me come clean and ask the question. How many e-mails do you receive daily? I spent about an hour getting my inbox down to about 1300. Now - I know some of this is my fault - I have a lot of e-mails that I've handled more than once - marking as "unread" if there's an action there. I know that's a terrible practice - and I've started adding a reminder in my weekly review just to look at my inbox and see how out of control it is.

I have so many things "lingering" in my inbox - things I've been "cc'd" on - that may or may not contain actions that I need to take, that I'm really starting to grow numb to my inbox. Is anybody else out there in the same boat? I've almost given up on the dream of getting inbox to zero.

 

[ejones]

As a follow up - I'd say I probably get between 70-90 work related e-mails a day. Even if I only spend 2 minutes on each - that's over 2 hours each day. Do you guys really have that amount of time?

I think one of the other battles I fight from a volume perspective is the "conversational" way in which we use e-mail where I work. I've started telling my staff to come find me if they need something important - rather than leaving something in my inbox. I think e-mail is a great tool for communicating the same message to large groups - and it's great for sending attachments. But it does not replace the need to get up off your behind and walk down the hall to talk to the other party in person. Anybody else battling that?

 

[Folke]

ejones, I'm not sure if I can help, but I'll try, and I'll try to do that from the "opposite" perspective - which emails do I skip:

- obviously I skip spam, but I tend to glance quickly to check if there is anything that appears to be mislabeled
- I use Google Apps "importance filter" which I think is super good (no, I have no affiliation with Google). This filter somehow separates my inbox using some algorithm that quite accurately sees which emails I can ignore (newsletters etc), so I just quickly glance through the subject lines of those to see if there is anything that somehow involves me (and I star those to move them to the higher category)
- among the emails that Google has classified as important I quickly check the subject line and sender (and I sometimes need to open them) to determine if I really need to read it. Much of it is just "information" for my attention - people discussing something and keeping me posted, but no action is required on my part - I am fairly brutal with these emails (but I do star those that I may want to retrieve later)
- some emails are specifically for me and would "theoretically" require action or an answer, but for some of these senders and topics I have started to adopt the rather rude late 20th century innovation of simply not reading or responding at all (unless I have something to lose by not answering).
- that leaves me with those emails that I must read and act upon. I try to get them done straight away, unless it would take considerably more than 2 minutes (I try to do my email when I am not terribly pressed for time). If it would take much longer or involves anything tricky, I will consider the email properly and phrase one or more tasks for what I will do about it (or amend existing tasks in my lists). I only occasionally forward emails to my task manager app as this would give me double work (having to read it and rethink it again), but I do this if I get interrupted etc and do not want to lose sight of that half-processed email. (Else I just mark it as unread, if I had only just started to read it when the interruption occurred.)

My inbox gets down to zero many times per day, especially the part that Google classifies as "important". This is because I feel uncomfortable about having piles of unknown dynamite there. But most of the emails I do nothing about - just a quick decision to skip.

 

[Oogiem]

How many e-mails do you receive daily?

I typically get between 100-150 e-mails a day that go into my inbox and another 100 or so that are for lists or advertising that I sort into to other folders automatically and only clean out once a week or if I need to by something and want to see if I have a coupon or code for it.

I have a lot of e-mails that I've handled more than once - marking as "unread" if there's an action there.

I've never had that many e-mails in inbox once I did the initial GTD clean-up but I can get to several hundred.

A few key tactics. Whatever you are using for your action lists I'd parse the actions from an e-mail when you first process it into your lists and then file the e-mail in a single reference file folder. If you need something in the e-mail as action support or reference material then put that into your action support folder or into a folder for the project or something else but get it out of your inbox.

The only groups I'd keep separate from either reference or current action support are if you are an officer of an association and that role can go to another person you might keep all e-mail correspondence in a separate folder for that organization so it's easier to make a copy to hand off to the new person when you time in office is up.

I have so many things "lingering" in my inbox - things I've been "cc'd" on - that may or may not contain actions that I need to take, that I'm really starting to grow numb to my inbox. Is anybody else out there in the same boat?

I'd make clearing that inbox a separate project and work hard to first be sure you actually fully process all new mail coming in as of today. And work off a reasonable number of backlog messages each day as well. I'd also start asking people not to CC you on stuff you have no need to see to try to reduce the influx a bit. It takes me about 30 minutes to process my incoming e-mail each day. Most of them do not even take more than a a few seconds to either file, or delete. I usually only end up with maybe 3-5 new actions from any given day that come in via e-mail and some days it's none. I also typically get 5-8 new projects but of those most go immediately into someday/maybe and I'll evaluate them again at my weekly review.

 

[Oogiem]

PS to the above. I am a very high reader. I would far prefer to have someone send me something in e-mail that come talk to me or call on the phone. If I don't read it I rarely remember it. I have to write down everything told to me or I forget but if I write it down and then read it to myself I am ok. So I try to find ways to move most of my communications to email and avoid in person stuff as much as possible.

 

[Gardener]

So let me come clean and ask the question. How many e-mails do you receive daily? I spent about an hour getting my inbox down to about 1300.

Are you saying that you get 1300 emails every day, or that your backlog is 1300?

If your backlog is 1300, I would recommend moving all 1300 into a folder called 'backlog', thus magically getting your inbox to zero. Then get your inbox back to zero every day, and also, every day, knock off a few dozen from the backlog.

You could also make some rough guesses as to priority groups in the backlog--"Backlog To Me" versus "Backlog CCing Me" versus "Backlog From Boss", that sort of thing.

And remember that "inbox zero" doesn't mean that you've DONE the actions in the email. It just means that you've defined the actions and put them somewhere. In my case, I also skip the two-minute rule; switching from processing email to "doing" even two minutes worth of stuff slows down the processing to a too-discouraging extent.