The corporate world is now ruled by emails. Email management is hence more important than ever now. With too many emails to deal with, it can get very important to tend to tasks that actually matter. To solve this issue, the concept of Merlin Mann Inbox zero was introduced. Inbox zero is a concept that consists of cleaning up your email inbox to avoid it from turning into an uncontrolled to-do list. Instilling ease and seamlessness in your email workflow, is the main goal of Merlin Mann Inbox zero.
What is the Merlin Mann inbox zero theory?
Inbox zero, a concept introduced by Merlin Mann, seeded this idea of achieving an empty inbox. As dreamy as this idea is, it is just as impossible without proper email management. Dealing with everything at once while being productive, is more stressing than freeing. But as Merlin Mann himself finally clarified, Inbox zero isn’t about the number of messages in your inbox at all.
Merlin intended Merlin Mann Inbox zero as an email management tool to “switch off” from one’s inbox and to concentrate on the work at hand. Merlin pointed out that most of the time lost due to emails is because we tend to get distracted by the constant barrage of notifications. Even after the distraction is dealt with, getting back to work with the same productivity is highly difficult.
How to achieve Merlin Mann inbox zero?
Merlin Mann Inbox zero is necessary for a better work-life balance. With better email management, comes the ease of working with better productivity and efficiency. Many email management strategies are known and widely used. Here is a list of the most effective ones for you to choose from:
- Stay on track
The time you put into your making and maintaining a schedule is what affects an email management strategy the most. You must have pre-decided time periods cut out of your day to check into your inboxes. It is necessary to avoid checking your emails outside of these time windows that you’ve set for yourself.
An email management software called Mailman, makes its need felt here. It has a unique feature called Do Not Disturb which lets you set a particular time period when you do not wish to receive any email. Thus Mailman makes sure that your inbox does not disturb you as your productivity increases. Thus Mailman helps you on your way to Merlin Mann Inbox zero. - Tame the cat
Curiosity does kill the cat. Except in the case of email management, curiosity is fueled by email notifications and the cat is our productivity levels. All efforts towards Merlin Mann Inbox zero are futile if we don’t fight the impulse to check our inboxes. We have been long trained to respond to every email as we receive it to ‘keep up’ with the world. This is one of the main reasons why keeping oneself away from one’s inbox is so difficult.
Mailman is the best solution for this too! With its classic batch-delivery system, Mailman strives to make sure that you don’t miss out on any important information. You can set Mailman to deliver all your emails at a particular time convenient for you. This time would be when you know that you can pay your fullest attention to the emails. Mailman delivers your emails to you then, thus enabling better work focus while not letting you miss anything important. - Money matters
Bigger the number of emails, bigger is the need for an external app to manage your emails. Acquiring addons like Todoist, etc for Gmail can go a long way to help you manage your emails better, with consistent efforts from the user too. If you’d rather have a more organized email software, you can choose to invest in email management softwares like Mailman which could help you clean and manage your emails for you. Features like Do Not Disturb, VIP list, and the batch delivery system is what makes it our prime choice for the best email management software.
- Use your tools well
What good are tools if an artist doesn’t utilise them well? All efficiency comes to a standstill if you don’t commit to your tools. Using your tools, may they be the best addons or the best email management softwares, is essential to achieve Inbox zero.
- Stay strong
We understand that to effectively manage your emails, one has to be consistent. It’s a long and daily process that requires just a little bit of effort and resistance. But once one learns the tricks to this trade of email management, it becomes fairly easy. All said and done, Merlin Mann Inbox zero is worth the effort.
Merlin Mann inbox zero will help your inbox!
Merlin Mann Inbox zero can successfully show us the road to a better email management strategy. Using the above email management tips, you can rest assured that achieving Inbox zero is possible. While we work towards a better email workflow, remember that we are also working towards achieving a better worklife balance.
FAQs
Productivity guru, Merlin Mann, first conceptualized the concept of inbox zero in 2007.
1. Organize emails into folders using proper filters.
2. Also set inbox rules to manage incoming emails.
3. Then unsubscribe from newsletters and other spam.
4. Also use flags and stars to differentiate important emails.
Inbox zero allows you to waste lesser time managing your emails and utilize that time in improving productivity.
Open Gmail. Then select the inbox tab you want to clear out (Primary, Promotions, etc.) and click the small empty box in the top left corner, just above the Compose button. This will select everything on the current page of your Inbox. Then click the Delete button.
