Arrow-Tip #54 Top 5 Benefits of Reaching Inbox Zero
This Inbox Zero thing just gets better and better – I didn’t realized how much I’ve missed it! For those of you who think it is an impossible achievement – I’ll be announcing some very exciting news real soon so stay tuned. In the mean time, here are my top five reasons so far for loving Inbox Zero to help get you motivated.
#5 Saving Money
Between deleting emails, removing attachments and getting caught up with my archiving activities, I’ve shrunk my mailbox by more than 50% of its former size. That means that not only has Outlook sped up considerably, I also don’t need to maintain extra space with my Exchange host (Mailstreet). My team and I will be transitioning to a new plan with mailstreet that is going to save us about 28% off our bill per month. Simplifying often does cost less!
#4 More Absorption
Now that I’m not spending a large amount of my time sifting through emails and deleting ones that I really didn’t need (I did a lot of unsubscribing), I’ve found that I have more time for the emails that come in. There are certain newsletters that I really do like to read pertaining to everything from decorating (check out Pamela O’Brien of Room Redo’s awesome weekly email) to Design at Work’s Baby Talk (PR & marketing tips) and Phil Moran‘s Weekly Economic Update. By the way, one of the reasons I like those newsletters is because their designers knew what they were doing – consistent formats so I know where to find the stuff that is important to me with information in small digestible chunks.
#3 Richer Contacts Information
Now that I can focus on each email in my inbox, I’m doing a better job of remembering to create contact records for new contacts emailing me for the first time. Since I’m creating the contact records real time, I get a chance to add some extra information about who referred the contact to me while it is fresh in my mind – key when you have a horrible memory like me. See also Arrow-Tip #1 Don’ t Use Your Inbox as a Data Repository Part I
#2 Easier to Prioritize
One bad habit we often fall into when our Inbox becomes overwhelming is managing tasks from there instead of your Tasks folder. Managing tasks in your Inbox is a big no no and the reasons why warrant their own arrow-tip so look for that one soon! For now, let’s just say that I’m spending a lot more time focusing on the right items in my task list than I was when I had to bounce back and forth between my Tasks folder and my Inbox.
#1 Faster Followup
This morning one of my wonderful clients Kathi Crawford of People Possibilities sent me two great referrals. I followed up on both of them almost immediately which lead Kathi to make the following comment:
Oh, and this is what being at in-box zero means, huh? You’re follow up is incredible!!
I think that pretty much says it all. So Inbox Zero skeptics – what say you now?
Comments
No comments yet.