Google has launched Priority Inbox, a new Gmail feature that automatically sorts your email according to importance. Priority Inbox attempts to solve the issue of how to effectively manage a high volume of Email.
We like Priority Inbox, but think it misses the mark on several levels. We’ll show you there is a better way to managing Email. Many of the ideas in this guide are built on the work of David Allen’s Getting Things Done and Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero. Feel free to modify these ideas to your needs.
Much of the stress that people feel doesn’t come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they’ve started.
-David Allen
Clearly, the problem of email overload is taking a toll on all our time, productivity, and sanity, mainly because most of us lack a cohesive system for processing our messages and converting them into appropriate actions as quickly as possible.
-Merlin Mann
Here are your five steps to a better Inbox:
1. Filter all newsletters, email subscriptions and automated notifications that are not time sensitive to a folder other than your Inbox. This is basically the Priority Inbox feature, but customized according to your needs. A little work here goes a long way to improving your Inbox.
- Create a Gmail label (or Outlook Folder) called Filtered.
- Build a filter so that these non-important emails are marked read, archived and labeled as Filtered based on sender, subject or some other unique identifier.
- Check your Filtered label no more than once a day or possibly weekly.
2. Choose when to check Email and process to Inbox Zero every time.
- Turn off desktop notifications of new emails.
- Commit to checking Email only a few times a day, or once every hour.
- Close your Email client when focusing on a specific task. Multitasking is a myth.
- Apply these criteria to every email the first time you open it to maximize your productivity. Every email has one of these possible outcomes: Do it (if less than two minutes), Delegate it, Delete it, Defer it, Respond.
3. Use David Allen’s Getting Things Done methodology to organize your Email.
- Create labels that match your work contexts such as @Do, @Errands, @Home, @Phone (use the @ signs so that these custom labels sort neatly in your email).
- When emails arrive that require more than two minutes of time label them with the proper context. If the email action can be done anywhere label @Do, remove from Inbox and move to next email. Once the Inbox is empty start working on the items labeled @Do.
- Use other labels as you need. If you have errands to run mark them @Errands and then check that label from your phone to organize errands on the road.
- For extra priority you can create an @ASAP label. Use criteria such as sender to mark these with red @ASAP labels so they stand out.
- When you complete an item, simply remove the label and watch it disappear from your list.
- The key idea is to get everything into an actionable state with the proper context while minimizing the time necessary to forward the action.
4. Create custom Contacts to manage workflows (Gmail and Google Apps only)
- Every Gmail user has the ability to create on the fly email addresses. If your email is jon@company.com then you can email jon+do@company.com and the email will be delivered. Use the + and any word to create a unique email for any Gmail user.
- Create contacts in your address book that match your custom labels. For instance jon+errands@company.com would be a new Contact named Errands.
- Use filters so that any email sent to the Contact you created named “Errands” skips your Inbox, is marked read and is labeled “@Errands”.
- If you remember that you need to pick up your dry cleaning after work send an email to your contact “Errands”. The email will be sent to jon+errands@company.com and auto filtered to your @Errands label. When you get in your car to run errands check your “@Errands” label and process the list.
5. Putting it all together with the Gmail Multiple Inbox feature
- Enable Multiple Inbox in Gmail.
- Make each of your important filters it’s own separate Inbox.
- Enjoy being able to see your Inbox, @Do list and any other custom labels you create at a glance.
