(note: I posted this to Silas Partners’ internal system, but I’m reposting it here)
UPDATE: Now that my inbox is clear, I’ve switched off the “show new mail” function in Outlook, and I’m going to use Clock! to remind me once an hour to read/process my inbox. It’s oddly freeing to know that even though things I need to respond to might be coming in, I have a time and method for dealing with them.
http://odeo.com/audio/15872233/view
Audio of productivity nerd Merlin Mann discussing his email philosophy “Inbox Zero.”
It’s about an hour long, and fairly simple/fun to listen to.
ABOUT MERLIN:
Merlin Mann runs 43folders.com and inboxzero.com, and spends most of his time discussing ways to spend more of your time doing what you love/what you need to do vs. organizing or fearing your tasks.
ABOUT INBOX ZERO:
Inbox Zero is a (slightly controversial) system for making sure your email helps you do your job, while not BECOMING your job. It rotates around checking email less frequently and never leaving an email in your inbox…..if you don’t need to respond, delete. If you need to delegate, do it. If you can respond, do it briefly (Merlin also runs the site five.sentenc.es , which encourages streamlined communication at the expense of unneeded politeness).
TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW:
Merlin mentions the “Lifehacking” movement, a geek/productivity trend. It revolves around reducing the mundane, repetitive things you need to do (shopping lists, emails, remembering to pay bills, finding your keys) into simple, repeatable systems. The goal is remove items of anxiety and clutter from your mental “plate,” and freeing up your energies and time for the things you can actually pour your talents into. Related ideas are the “Hipster PDA” (a simplified, 3×5 card organizer that works wonders), to-do lists like RememberTheMilk.com, and the entire blog www.lifehacker.com (which posts way too often to be productively read).
(disengage readers note: I personally use the todo list HiTask, partially because it allows me to prioritize tasks. However, I’ve noticed that this means non-Red tasks simply don’t get done.)
GTD (Getting Things Done) is also brought up several times during the discussion. GTD is based on a now-famous book/productivity idea that encourages you to process, defer, do, and review your tasks systematically, so you’re not feeling anxious or guilty about what you don’t actually want to/need to do, but you’re getting what you want finished.
Anyhow, have a listen and let me know what you think. I’ve been considering the idea for a few months, but finally decided to ‘go Inbox Zero’ (I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to say it that way) this week…I’ll let you know how it goes.
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