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Ricardo Bueno

Ricardo Bueno

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August 4, 2011   |   by Ricardo Bueno   |   Get free new post updates HERE.

Chasing Inbox Zero

A co-worker brought it to my attention that I’m apparently doing e-mail wrong. Yep, I suck at e-mail.

There’s too much going on and it’s taking up too much of my time. A minute here, a minute there… At the end of the day it all adds up.

And yes, I know, I could adhere to the whole “I only check emails once in the morning and once in the afternoon” but frankly, it’s too easy to miss opportunities that way. Think Sales e-mails. Customer service e-mail. Partnership opportunities. Those are the kinds of e-mails I deal with on a day-to-day basis. All time sensitive. If I don’t respond, I lose a sale, anger a customer and miss out on the next big opportunity.

Timeliness counts.

Enter Inbox Zero!

The idea is really pretty simple. Instead of just “checking” e-mails, you process them right then and there. I don’t mean like sitting there, responding to each and every e-mail as it comes in… What I mean is, you apply one of the following actions:

  1. Delete or Archive it
  2. Delegate it
  3. Respond
  4. Defer (maybe it’s a business opportunity that you can take up at a later date)
  5. Do (a reminder to get an Action Item done)

So I spent a few hours yesterday organizing things in my work e-mail and funneling messages using the format above. I’m happy to say that I’m down to ~34 e-mails and I followed up on some important items that I unfortunately let fall through the cracks last week. My folders look something like this:

  • Announcements (for new IDX coverage areas, feature udpates, etc.)
  • Delegate (in the event I need to send a question up to Programming)
  • Do (action items that need to get done now, like scheduling Training Classes with SoCal MLS)
  • Forum Posts (new questions posted in our Community Forum that need to get answered)
  • Post Ideas/Notes (links to articles that I might want to link to in a future post)
  • Respond (I might not have the answer now, or time to respond this very moment, but I’ll get to it before the end of the day)
  • Newsletters (I subscribe to several newsletters including copies of my own and I auto-tag these as they come in)

Funny, I look at that list and still think it needs to be shorter. But at least my inbox looks hectic and more manageable:

How do you do it?

What approach do you take for managing your inbox? What works for you?

About Ricardo Bueno

I specialize in marketing and technology for the real estate industry. Currently: Marketing Technology Director at West (a Williston Financial Group company) West. Previously: National Trainer at W&R Studios.

Get more from me on and .

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dmitri Leonov says

    August 5, 2011 at 5:20 am

    You should try Sanebox.com.  It makes Inbox Zero sooo much easier!

    Reply
    • Ricardo Bueno says

      August 5, 2011 at 5:33 am

      Thanks for the tip Dmitri! I’m gonna give it a spin… I managed to get down to 11 today!

      Reply
  2. Rick Manelius says

    August 7, 2011 at 6:42 pm

    I try ‘reference, to_reply, to_read, waiting, purgatory’ and then a separate place for all my long term archival buckets.

    Purgatory is the most useful when I’m just getting slammed but I still want to keep important to_read, and to_reply emails going through the system. But as always, you gotta check it… lest you forever stay in limbo!

    Reply

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