# Declutter Your Inbox

## Metadata
- Author: [[S.J. Scott ]]
- Full Title: Declutter Your Inbox
- Category: #books
## Highlights
- Yes, being chained to technology keeps you connected to the world, but it also prevents you from giving your full attention to a project or spending quality time with the important people in your life. ([Location 165](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=165))
- The important lesson here is you need to schedule specific times each day to go through your email messages. ([Location 171](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=171))
- Schedule time to process your email each day. If you receive fewer than 20 messages per day, you shouldn't need to check your email more than once. If you receive 20 to 50 messages daily, check your email no more than three times per day. ([Location 178](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=178))
- Honestly, I feel long emails are disrespectful of my time. They take a long time to read and an even longer to time to reply to. It can be particularly frustrating if I feel the sender could have answered their own question with a simple Google search. ([Location 231](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=231))
- Unnecessarily verbose replies waste both your time and the recipient’s time. Answer fully, but with as few words as possible. Get to the point and get out. ([Location 239](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=239))
- One big mistake I see many people make is treating their email inboxes like an ad hoc “to-do list.” ([Location 255](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=255))
- The “inbox to-do list” mentality can have a negative impact on your productivity ([Location 259](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=259))
- Zeigarnick effect. The idea here is that every unfinished task takes up a certain amount of your focus. Even if you’re not consciously thinking about an incomplete task, some part of your brain is churning away in the background. ([Location 262](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=262))
- When it comes to to-do lists, I’m a low-tech guy. I print out my list at the start of each week and write down – with an amazing tool called a “pen” – the new tasks that pop up every day. ([Location 270](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=270))
- Habit #1: Schedule Email Processing Time(s) ([Location 313](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=313))
- The only way to truly break this vicious cycle is to remove free will from the equation by turning off all email notifications. ([Location 322](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=322))
- Habit #2: Practice the “Five-Sentence Rule” ([Location 336](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=336))
- Unless you’re dealing with a very thorny technical issue, most communication should be boiled down to a well-written, five-sentence email. ([Location 352](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=352))
- If a topic is complicated enough to require multiple answers, then a simpler solution is to hop on Skype and have a short conversation (less than five minutes). ([Location 356](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=356))
- Habit #3: Intelligently Filter Your Messages ([Location 369](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=369))
- This step is important because often email isn’t the best tool for certain conversations. ([Location 378](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=378))
- Habit #4: “Single Handle” Each Message ([Location 394](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=394))
- If something takes less than two minutes to complete, then do it immediately. Otherwise, it’s better to schedule this task as a future action item. ([Location 399](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=399))
- Habit #5: Eliminate Pointless Email ([Location 406](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=406))
- A simpler solution is to regularly – at least every few days – open each message and hit the unsubscribe link or the SPAM button (for those email lists that won’t let you unsubscribe). Do this on a regular basis to quickly and permanently get rid of these messages that don’t add value to your life. ([Location 410](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=410))
- Personally, I treat each email as an opportunity to eliminate something new. Unless I find the information to be useful or engaging, then I take five seconds to filter that content out of my life. ([Location 413](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=413))
- Habit #6: Learn How to Touch Type ([Location 415](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=415))
- Habit #7: Value Your Time ([Location 431](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=431))
- In my opinion, one of the worst disruptors of your time is those small email notifications. It ([Location 468](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IA7XZNY&location=468))