The Challenge: Emptying My Inbox

I'm not sure if I can do this but I am so going to challenge myself. Next Friday, I'm leaving for Australia (whee!). I'm one of those people that has work on the brain pretty much 24x7. It's not usually a stress thing, it's just how I am; always thinking. I come up with some of my best ideas or decisions in the shower or while I am driving.

Part of my trip is work, part is play. So I do plan on checking in every few days (which I think will not make my manager happy because she likes us to unplug completely, but that would actually make it harder for me to relax). Plus, I'll be blogging my trip. So I'll be online. Not really working but just seeing what's going on.

One of the things that I thought would help me is to eliminate all the old stuff in my inbox. I'm generally pretty good about touching e-mail once (filing and deleting are my favorites), so mostly all that's left are the mails I have to do something with. And there are about 100 of them. Can I get through all of them so I leave for my trip with a squeaky clean inbox? Or am I just kidding myself?

I have a lot of other things to do to prep for my trip and I am sure I am forgetting something. Can I do it?

Comments

• Anonymous
  April 03, 2008
  Hello.  This doesn't really pertain to your post but I have a question you may be able to shed some light on.  I was recently contacted by a recruiter for an associate product manager position at Microsoft.  I passed the the phone interview and received an email from another recruiter discussing the Redmond interview.  Both the person who contacted me for the logistics and my contact person for the interview in a couple weeks are staffing contractors.  The interview will also be in the RedWest Campus Building A and not the infamous Building 19.  Is this unusual?  It seems incongruous with what I have seen online regarding the interview process.  I'm not necessarily worried, I'm just curious.

• Anonymous
  April 03, 2008
  Nope, not unusual at all. So don't worry. We use contractors to schedule the interviews. And some of our recruiters sit with their hiring groups. So if the group you are interviewing is in RedWest, it's not at all unusual that the recruiter sits there as well. You can always stop by building 19 to check it out if you want.

• Anonymous
  April 03, 2008
  I think you can do it. I used to have a bad case of inbox procrastination. It wasn't hundreds long, it was more like 3-4 that would sit in the inbox for months on end. Then about a month ago I was convinced that the empty inbox is the way to go. Cuts down the clutter and at least makes you feel like you're on top of everything, even though sometimes you aren't.

• Anonymous
  April 03, 2008
  Well, you have half of the GTD email process down. You just need to work on the other half. :) Embrace the 4 Ds and your inbox will always be close to 0. http://dirtydogstink.com/blog/2006/10/18/GettingEmailOrganizedWithThe4Ds.aspx Good luck and have a great trip! Me == Jealous

• Anonymous
  April 03, 2008
  Michael H - yes, the months old e-mail. I have a few of those! tod - thanks!

• Anonymous
  April 04, 2008
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  April 04, 2008
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  April 04, 2008
  Down to about 45 but I have a bunch of stuff to do out of the office. Scared.to.step.away.from.inbox.

• Anonymous
  April 04, 2008
  Heather- Are you connected to work via a electronic monitoring device (AKA a Blackberry), where you can check e mail when you are away from your desk?

• Anonymous
  April 04, 2008
  Hi Heather, Love your blog!  I've read it for quite a while and really ejoy it. I recently started working on the "zero" inbox after listening to a Podcast by Stever Robbins - "The get it done guy".   http://getitdone.quickanddirtytips.com/ Episode 2 is all about how to empty your inbox and keep it that way. It has been a great change.  I don't feel so tired and dragged out everytime I look at my mail. Thanks again for your blog and have fun in Australia.   Laura

• Anonymous
  April 07, 2008
  No scroll bar! No scroll bar! Woo hoo!

• Anonymous
  April 07, 2008
  Have you taken the class 'take back your life'?  They tought me great email management skills back when, so much so I think I am going to take it again to refresh. NO scroll bar! p

• Anonymous
  April 07, 2008
  I took that one we have internally, with that consultant guy....oh, I forget what it was called but it helped. For me it's just a matter of actually doing it. Now that I am sans scroll bar, I am challenging myself to keep it that way. Kind of scared to step away and take a shower but I will force myself :)

• Anonymous
  April 07, 2008
  You silly you have to institute checkpoints in your day - don't be compulsive about it. 'Scroll bar must be present at 12pm, 4pm, and 6pm'...that is more manageable and takes the stress and OCD out of always having to check it.

• Anonymous
  April 07, 2008
  Oh no! That is not simple though! I probably live in Outlook way more than the average person. Really, I am at 24 mails right now.