Inbox Zero Day

Busy office workers, business executives and even just average people can easily get overwhelmed by the abundance of emails they have just sitting in their email inboxes. Inbox Zero Day is meant to encourage people to find freedom from the tyranny of their email inboxes!

History of Inbox Zero Day

Starting out as an approach to managing the tons of emails that individuals and companies get, sometimes on a daily basis, the Inbox Zero system was created to empower people to take their lives back from the email monster. Using the idea that the email inbox should be kept empty most of the time, helping people to feel less stressed and be more organized.

Merlin Mann is the person who originally coined the term Inbox Zero when he started blogging about the concept in the early 2000s. This was not terribly long after the problem of overloaded inboxes began to bring stress to many businesses and individuals.

Mann is a productivity expert who suggests that people not only use the idea of inbox zero as a goal, but also consider the amount of time they are spending on each of their types of “inboxes”, which can include text messages, productivity managers like Slack, social media direct messages and more.

While the goal of Inbox Zero Day was originally designed to get all of the messages read, dealt with and into folders, that might be a slightly unrealistic goal in today’s world. Even so, the point of the day is to motivate people to consider their inboxes, create or update their organizational systems, and then get into the habit of being more organized and productive.

It’s time for Inbox Zero Day!

How to Celebrate Inbox Zero Day

Learn the Inbox Zero System

Take a little time on Inbox Zero Day to research the concept that is lowering stress and creating extra organization for people all over the world. Accomplishing the goal of getting that inbox to read zero messages means doing some sorting and developing a system of organization. Whether it’s folders and labels, stars and flags, or “read” and “unread”, getting that inbox sorted into categories will then allow you to use it more efficiently and effectively.

Set Up Email Filters

Depending on which email server is used, some filters for inboxes already exist that protect the user from having to see spam. Plus, many systems also organize into categories such as social and promotions, allowing the user to look at those less important emails at their leisure, while promoting the emails that seem to be more of a priority. These filters can be customized, and Inbox Zero Day might be just the right motivation to do it!

Read a Book on Productivity

Even those folks who don’t do a lot with email or who don’t have inboxes that are chock full can still benefit from getting a bit more organized. Try reading a few books on organization, whether it’s cyber- and tech-style organization or some other type, Inbox Zero Day is a great time to think about how to get control over the monsters in life.