The Most Productive Email Workflow I've Ever Had
About 4 years ago, I read a book called Getting Things Done by David Allen (NOTE: whenever you see the phrase "I read a book," it's usually safe to assume this really means "I listened to an audiobook"). I read [listen to] a lot of productivity literature because I occasionally get some small piece of wisdom that sticks with me and benefits me for years thereafter. In the case of David Allen's book--written in 2001--the wisdom that persisted was with regard to my email workflow. Interestingly, David Allen was not even discussing email but regular [snail] mail. But the advice works even better with email than with physical mail. I'm very grateful to have been exposed to the philosophy and have felt a bit of a burden to share it with my friends ever since. So here it is... KEEP YOUR INBOX EMPTY It's much more practical and effective than you might think. Here is the workflow: A few times each day (perhaps every time you're in front