#7 of 7 Reasons to Keep the Inbox Empty: There are More Appropriate Places to Store Email Messages

One of the biggest reasons you tend to leave message in the in-box is because you’re not sure where else you can store them. You don’t want to forget them (or lose them) you leave them in the in-box, just to be safe, but this also creates lots of clutter and distraction.

However, once you get your e-mail folders organised it becomes much easier to move each e-mail out of the inbox.

• If an e-mail is no longer needed, it should be deleted.

• If you do need it again at some time in the future, it can be moved to an appropriate email folder (eg: Subject A, B, C; or Client 1, 2, 3; or Project X, Y, Z).

• If you don’t have a folder for a specific e-mail, or you’re not sure which folder it should go to, or there’s not enough of this type of message to justify its own folder, you can move it to a ‘catchall’ folder (eg: called ‘Reference’ or ‘Filing Cabinet’ or ‘Miscellaneous’).

• If you have to hold the message while waiting for someone or something else to happen, it can be moved to a Waitlist or Pending Reply folder. Add a reminder to these messages so you stay in control, just in case the ‘someone’ or ‘something’ else doesn’t actually happen.

• If the e-mail requires you to perform a task, it should be converted to a calendar appointment, scheduling a block of time at an appropriate date and time in the future to fit in with all your other commitments and workload.

Woo hoo – an empty inbox!

Once you made one of the above decisions about where to relocate each e-mail, the in-box is empty again. Every e-mail is now stored in an appropriate location, rather than left to accumulate in the in-box.

Click here to read #6 of 7 Reasons to Keep the Inbox Empty: Avoids Being Interrupted by New Messages