{"id":38885,"date":"2020-12-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newrcblog.wpengine.com\/why-email-is-dead-and-glip-is-the-new-tool-of-choice\/"},"modified":"2025-03-13T06:22:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T13:22:00","slug":"inbox-zero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/us\/en\/blog\/inbox-zero\/","title":{"rendered":"Hitting inbox zero: How to stay afloat in a world of communication overload"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chances are you\u2019ve experienced the dread of confronting a heap of unread emails, or the panic of overlooking some vital message that got lost in the clutter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And perhaps you\u2019ve wondered whether it\u2019s even possible to truly stay on top of the never-ending stream of messages filling up your inbox. Given the sheer volume of incoming mail, it can seem like you\u2019re forever swimming against the tide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The good news is you&#8217;re not alone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People have been grappling with the problem of how to manage an ever-replenishing inbox for decades. And with global email use forecast to reach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/255080\/number-of-e-mail-users-worldwide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">4.5 billion users by 2024<\/a>, the problem isn\u2019t going away any time soon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What you need is a sustainable inbox management system that ensures you stay in the loop of important conversations and that also gives you the time and space needed to focus on other productive activities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this post, we\u2019ll look at how to protect yourself from communication overload by adopting the principles and strategies of \u201cinbox zero.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we\u2019ll see, inbox zero is less about having a completely empty inbox than it is about figuring out ways to stay on top of your personal communications with minimal mental strain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What we\u2019ll cover:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"#inbox\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inbox zero: What it\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">really<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"#four\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4 principles for better inbox management<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"#six\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6 tips for hitting inbox zero<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s start by looking at how inbox zero got started and dispel a common misconception about what it means to achieve it.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Looking for WFH tips? Download the <strong>Remote Work Task Checklist.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"download-form-widget standart-download-form\" data-url=\"http:\/\/netstorage.ringcentral.com\/blog\/remote-checklist-4.pdf\" data-id=\"69ff580c3a0db\" id=\"69ff580c3a0db\">\n\t\t<button tabindex=\"on\"  on=\"tap:69ff580c3a0db.toggleClass(class='open')\" class=\"open-modal-download-action download-form-button\" type=\"submit\">\u2705 Get the checklist<\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"download-form-modal\">\n<div class=\"download-form-modal-body\">\n<div class=\"download-form-modal-content\">\n<div class=\"download-form-modal-title\">\ud83c\udf0e  A checklist of daily, weekly, and monthly tasks designed for remote workers<\/div>\n<form class=\"download-form SMB\" method=\"post\">\n<div class=\"download-form-part\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input class=\"download-form-input\" aria-label=\"Full Name\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" type=\"text\" name=\"fullname\" placeholder=\"Full Name\" data-dl-events-hover=\"true\" data-dl-element=\"text\" data-dl-additional-info=\"download form\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"download-form-part\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input class=\"download-form-input\" aria-label=\"Email (please enter a work email address)\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" type=\"email\" autocomplete=\"on\" name=\"email\" placeholder=\"Email (please enter a work email address)\" data-dl-events-hover=\"true\" data-dl-element=\"email\" data-dl-additional-info=\"download form\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"popup_form\" value=\"1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"Lead_Entry_Source__c\" value=\"RC Blog\" class=\"download-form-input\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"download-form-part\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"download-form-submit\" type=\"submit\" data-dl-element=\"button\" data-no-auto-dl=\"true\" data-dl-additional-info=\"download form\" data-dl-name=\"DOWNLOAD\">DOWNLOAD<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<button on=\"tap:69ff580c3a0db.toggleClass(class='open')\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\"  class=\"download-form-modal-close\"><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"download-form-modal-thank\">Thanks for reading!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a id=\"inbox\"><\/a><br \/>\nInbox zero: What it\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">really<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The term \u201cinbox zero\u201d was originally coined by the productivity writer Merlin Mann to describe a simple, three-tiered approach to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/email-productivity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">inbox management<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Mann\u2019s system, whenever you encounter a new email in your inbox, you should process it in one of the following three ways:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the message doesn\u2019t need any action from you, archive it straight away.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the message requires a quick and simple answer, respond to it then and there and then archive it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the message requires a complex or thought-out answer, delay writing your response until later when you have the opportunity to respond in full.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like most of us, Mann was familiar with the strain of facing an overflowing inbox every day and recognized how this was a source of avoidable stress for many people. In developing his system, his goal was to free us from the draining effect of constantly thinking about our email. And his philosophy was simple enough: irrelevant messages never have to be read, simple ones can be dealt with in the moment, and lengthier ones can wait until we\u2019ve set aside time to answer them properly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unfortunately, many people have misunderstood the intention behind inbox zero and have replaced the oppression of having a messy inbox with the obsession of keeping it perfectly clean.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But by using the word \u201czero,\u201d Mann never intended to suggest that you should have a fanatical commitment toward keeping your inbox empty. Rather, the \u201czero\u201d simply refers to how much of your attention should be caught up in your inbox when you don\u2019t want it to be.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s about freeing up your mental inbox\u2014<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that\u2019s<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the essence of inbox zero.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When we think of it this way, we realize that an effective inbox management system is one that helps us strike the right balance between our communication needs and all the other demands of productive work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sure, having a chaotic inbox is hardly a recipe for mental clarity or effective project management, but neither is subordinating all your other activities to the meaningless goal of reaching zero unread messages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, with that in mind, let\u2019s now look at what it takes to develop a practical and effective inbox management system.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a id=\"four\"><\/a><br \/>\n4 principles for better inbox management<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before we explore some strategies of how to achieve inbox zero, it\u2019s important to first understand what kind of mindset can help improve your relationship with email.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The following principles are worth bearing in mind regardless of the specific strategies you end up using:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. It\u2019s more than just email<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email isn\u2019t the only communication channel that demands our attention. For most of us, our \u201cinbox\u201d also consists of messages sent via social media, physical mail, voicemail, and different messaging apps.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This means you need to find a healthy system for dealing with your personal communications that applies to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">all<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> channels. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-43764\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/communication-strategy-comparison.png\" alt=\"communication strategy comparison\" width=\"930\" height=\"700\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Realistically, that system can\u2019t involve reading and responding to each and every message, which leads us to the next point&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. You can\u2019t attend to everything<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since there are only so many hours in a day, it\u2019s simply impractical to expect yourself to be able to respond to <em>every<\/em> email you receive. What\u2019s more, most of the information that makes its way into your inbox probably isn\u2019t that important anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The sooner you appreciate that you can\u2019t attend to every item in your inbox, the sooner you can focus on dealing with the messages that really matter.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Boundaries are good<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Setting some explicit (yet polite!) guidelines for how other people should interact with you online can go a long way toward reducing the volume of emails you have to process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember, other people are in the same boat as you. They understand that responding to every message sent your way is an impossible demand in the modern world, and they will generally be happy to interact with you in a more discerning way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Setting some clear expectations of how, when, and whether you\u2019ll respond to requests for information will be met with sympathetic understanding from most people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Do unto others\u2026<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you expect your colleagues, clients, and other contacts to respect your communication boundaries, you had better respect theirs too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This means you should avoid bombarding people with constant updates, calling them straight after meetings, or wandering over to their desk for an impromptu chat when they have deadlines looming.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also means you should keep your messages short and to the point whenever possible (more on that later).<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a id=\"six\"><\/a><br \/>\n6 tips for hitting inbox zero<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A well-managed inbox is one that has been set up to allow you to attend to important messages as efficiently as possible while keeping productivity-sapping distractions to a bare minimum.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use the following tips to develop an inbox management system that best serves you:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. Make the most of alternative communication tools<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email simply isn\u2019t the best medium for all types of conversations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ve all been part of an email exchange that seemed to drag on way too long and when it would have made far more sense to quickly resolve the discussion by picking up the phone or arranging a brief <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/face-to-face-interactions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">face-to-face meeting<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fact is you can ease the burden of managing your inbox by simply moving more of your conversations to better-suited channels of communication. But that doesn&#8217;t mean you need to go out and subscribe to a bunch of different apps to get all these different communication <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/communication-channels\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">options<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, by integrating phone, video conferencing, and team messaging into one platform, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/office\/how-it-works.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RingCentral<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> provides a variety of email <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/email-alternatives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">alternatives<\/a> that are a better match for fast-paced <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/collaboration-in-the-workplace\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">teamwork between different departments<\/a>\u2014all in one app:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"rc_custom_video\"><a class=\"rc_custom_video__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtu.be\/9xaL89hYeFs\">\n\t\t            <picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi_webp\/9xaL89hYeFs\/maxresdefault.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rc_custom_video__media\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/9xaL89hYeFs\/maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t            <\/picture>\n\t\t        <\/a><br \/>\n\t\t        <button class=\"rc_custom_video__button\" aria-label=\"Play video\"><svg width=\"68\" height=\"48\" viewBox=\"0 0 68 48\"><path class=\"rc_custom_video__button-shape\" d=\"M66.52,7.74c-0.78-2.93-2.49-5.41-5.42-6.19C55.79,.13,34,0,34,0S12.21,.13,6.9,1.55 C3.97,2.33,2.27,4.81,1.48,7.74C0.06,13.05,0,24,0,24s0.06,10.95,1.48,16.26c0.78,2.93,2.49,5.41,5.42,6.19 C12.21,47.87,34,48,34,48s21.79-0.13,27.1-1.55c2.93-0.78,4.64-3.26,5.42-6.19C67.94,34.95,68,24,68,24S67.94,13.05,66.52,7.74z\"><\/path><path class=\"rc_custom_video__button-icon\" d=\"M 45,24 27,14 27,34\"><\/path><\/svg><br \/>\n\t\t        <\/button>\n\t\t    <\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ideas can be shared and reacted to in real-time, documents can be worked on by multiple parties simultaneously since it has built-in file sharing&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-44137\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/drag-files-GIF.gif\" alt=\"drag files in ringcentral app\" width=\"800\" height=\"633\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> You don&#8217;t even need a separate task management tool, since the desktop and mobile app lets you create and assign tasks to teammates and set deadlines (even color-code them)!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-45695\" src=\"\/us\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ringcentral-app-for-real-estate-new.png\" alt=\"new task in ringcentral app\" width=\"1000\" height=\"539\" \/><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\ud83d\udd79\ufe0f<\/span> Get a hands-on look at how RingCentral is designed to help you reduce inbox clutter by booking a product tour:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><button data-href=\"#leadform-popup\" class=\"js-open-popup-activator btn primary\" >Choose a time<\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\ud83d\udcb0<\/span> You can also <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/roi-calculator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span class=\"s2\"><b>use this calculator<\/b><\/span><\/a><b> <\/b>to see roughly how much your business could save by using RingCentral to support your team&#8217;s communication with each other\u2014and clients.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Schedule and switch off<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps the single most effective way to take control of your relationship with email is to be more intentional about when you check your inbox.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, instead of reacting to every email as it enters your inbox, you should set aside dedicated blocks of time throughout the day when you check and respond to your messages. Treating your email primarily as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/asynchronous-communication\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tool for<\/a> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">asynchronous communication<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> means you can spend more of your time on uninterrupted, focused work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figuring out when the best times are to focus on checking and responding to emails may require a little trial and error. Much will depend on your energy levels and workflow. But as a general guide, it makes sense to set aside some time first thing in the morning, then again mid-morning, then after lunch, and again during the afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To reap the benefits of this kind of schedule, it\u2019s essential to adjust your alerts and notification settings so that you aren\u2019t interrupted by your inbox during non-email hours. Even if you don\u2019t read an email as it comes in, the notification itself will be enough to break your concentration from whatever task you\u2019re working on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pause your inbox so you aren\u2019t distracted until you\u2019re ready to read your emails. You can use extensions like \u201cFree Pause Gmail\u201d or \u201cInbox Pause\u201d to take control when new emails appear in your inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might even go as far as turning off your email program altogether outside of your designated email-checking times. The only trouble with this approach is that there may be some occasions when an urgent email comes in that does call for an immediate response on your part. For these situations, you can either set up an automated response to the sender that contains instructions on how to contact you in an emergency, or you can set up custom notifications that only interrupt you when a high-priority email comes through.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you do check your messages, it\u2019s a good idea to try and process them then and there. If you just let a message sit in your inbox, you\u2019ll eventually have to re-read it and make a decision about how to act on it, thereby doubling your work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Use filters and folders<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another tried and tested method for reducing inbox clutter is to spend some time creating filters (or \u201crules\u201d) that automatically sort messages into different folders as soon as they arrive in your inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can create a filter based on any attribute of an incoming message, such as who sent it, whether the subject line contains a specific word, whether the email has an attachment, whether it was addressed to you directly, or whether you\u2019ve just been CC\u2019d into the message.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Categorizing your incoming emails into different folders makes it much easier to figure out which messages to prioritize. For example, you\u2019ll want to give immediate attention to any messages that end up in your \u201cclients\u201d or \u201csenior management\u201d folder, whereas those that end up in your \u201cnewsletter\u201d folder can be left until you have more free time.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. The search function is your friend<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to physical documents, it makes perfect sense to follow a strict filing system so that you can find what you need when you need it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But with an email inbox, the ever-present search function means you can find most of the threads and attachments you want by simply searching for the relevant keywords. This is true no matter how disorganized your inbox happens to be (although we\u2019d still recommend you use <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">some<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> degree of filtering).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Relying on the search function alone might be more arduous than simply jumping to messages in a predefined folder. But, at the very least, the effectiveness of the search function shows that you don\u2019t need to put yourself under pressure to maintain a perfectly organized inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Purge your inbox<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A significant proportion of your incoming messages are probably not that important. In fact, many of them are likely to be downright irrelevant to you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s good practice to cut these kinds of messages off at the source so that you don\u2019t constantly waste time deciding that they\u2019re unimportant and then manually deleting them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Start by sifting through your most recent messages and unsubscribe from any list that has no relevance to your day-to-day work or offers no other benefit to you. If you identify any individual senders that never seem to send any relevant messages, consider creating a manual filter for them that redirects their emails to your spam or trash folder.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another trick to limit the noise in your inbox is to activate the mute or ignore function whenever you receive yet another inconsequential response from a reply-all email thread.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The more merciless you are about blocking out irrelevant messages in your inbox, the easier it\u2019ll be to spend time on the messages that actually matter.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6. Be brief and use stock responses<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another way to minimize the hold that your inbox has on your life is to spend less time actually responding to emails.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The idea behind this is simple: the shorter your emails, the less time it takes to reply.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, this doesn\u2019t mean you should respond to every email with a one-word answer. It\u2019s still essential to maintain professional standards of courtesy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, that said, it\u2019s true that for most emails you can quite easily pack in all the information you need into five short sentences, all the while incorporating the necessary pleasantries like an introductory \u201cHow are you?\u201d or a parting \u201cSpeak soon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Short, concise responses will also make it easier for the recipient to digest the information and may even encourage them to follow suit with a similarly succinct response.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you really want to speed up the time it takes to respond to emails, you might also consider using stock emails for recurring messages or any common questions you receive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Start hitting inbox zero today<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The concept of inbox zero serves as a reminder that our email\u2014and any other communication tools we may use\u2014is there to serve <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">us<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, not the other way around.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Effective inbox management isn\u2019t about blindly optimizing for reaching zero unread messages. Instead, it\u2019s about creating a system that makes it as easy as possible for you to identify those messages that actually need your attention and filtering out those that don\u2019t so you can clear your mind to work on what really matters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use the tips covered in this post to develop an inbox management system that best meets your needs. And if you\u2019re keen to learn more about alternatives to email, why not book yourself a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/schedule-a-demo\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RingCentral product tour<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chances are you\u2019ve experienced the dread of confronting a heap of unread emails, or the panic of overlooking some vital message that got lost in the clutter.\u00a0 And perhaps you\u2019ve wondered whether it\u2019s even possible to truly stay on top of the never-ending stream of messages filling up your inbox. Given the sheer volume of &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":45810,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17901],"tags":[667,29004,15340],"class_list":["post-38885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-leadership","tag-email","tag-inbox","tag-inbox-zero"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.3 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hitting inbox zero: How to stay afloat in a world of communication overload<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover what\u2019s really meant by \u201cinbox zero\u201d and actionable tips that you can take today to manage your inbox effectively and get more done.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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