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As we discussed email in the last episode, email management of multiple accounts has its positives and negatives. All of us, Augusto, Art, Francis and I have multiple email accounts. And, to be honest, I don’t know many people who have only one solitary email account. But, whether you have one inbox, or 10 inboxes, one methodology that’s cropped up and lingered for nearly two decades is the idea of Inbox Zero. In this cast, we discuss the history of Inbox Zero (with the pros and cons), some related concepts that I’ve theorized over the years (namely my Inbox One and Tab Zero methods, the former of which I hinted at in the last cast), and get feedback and permutations from the ProductivityCast team. We close with some thoughts on email message processing. Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening!
If you’d like to discuss this episode, please click here to leave a comment down below (this jumps you to the bottom of the post).
In this Cast
Show Notes
Resources we mention, including links to them will be provided here. Please listen to the episode for context.
“Inbox Zero” (GoogleTechTalks) by Merlin Mann
Getting Things Done by David Allen
43 Folders Series: Inbox Zero (also by Merlin Mann)
Forget ‘Inbox Zero’: Your empty email account means nothing
Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 (ScanSnap Cloud)
Ray’s Web browser corollary to Inbox Zero, Tab Zero
Raw Text Transcript
Raw, unedited and machine-produced text transcript so there may be substantial errors, but you can search for specific points in the episode to jump to, or to reference back to at a later date and time, by keywords or key phrases. The time coding is h:mm:ss.ms to h:mm:ss.ms (e.g., 0:00:00.000,0:00:04.000 starts at 0.00 seconds and ends at 4 seconds in the cast’s audio).
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are you ready to manage your work and
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personal world better to live a
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fulfilling productive life then you’ve
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come to the right place
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productivity cast the weekly show about
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all things productivity here are your
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hosts ray Sydney Smith and Augusto
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pronounces weight and art Galax welcome
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everybody to productivity cast episode 0
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to 9 episode 29 inbox zero inbox 1 and
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processing email messages we are going
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to be talking about the all-encompassing
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inbox and how to deal with your inbox
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and so I wanted to lead off because as
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we discussed email in the last episode
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email management of multiple accounts
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has its positives and negatives all of
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us Augusto art Francis and I have
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multiple email accounts and to be honest
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I don’t know how many people who have
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only one single solitary email account
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but whether you have one inbox or 10
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inboxes one methodology that’s cropped
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up over the past decade is the idea of
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inbox zero it came from Merlin Mann who
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did a google Tech Talk back in 2007 and
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I will put a link to that in the show
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notes if those of you who want to watch
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I believe is about an hour or so he
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talks about this idea of inbox zero so
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in this cast we’re gonna discuss a
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little bit about inbox zero its pros and
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cons some related concepts that I’ve
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kind of thought about over the past
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couple of years namely inbox 1 and the
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tab 0 methods and get feedback and
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permutations from the productivity cast
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team will close them with some thoughts
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on email message processing from my
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esteemed colleagues and I think this is
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gonna be a great podcast it’s gonna have
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a lot of really great information for us
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all so let’s kick it off with who wants
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to kind of describe in brief the concept
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of inbox 0
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what Merlin Mann was really talking
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about as a as a kind of extension of
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getting things done by David Allen and
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this idea of of capturing and then
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processing ones inboxes I don’t know if
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any of us
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truly understand what the current
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definition of that is I know what mine
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is and and I’m sure – not matching
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what’s in the literature but in the
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mentality of being able to get eliminate
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all actionable items and processing
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items from a common email inbox or a
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singular email inbox
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that’s to my knowledge that’s it in a
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nutshell now what have I missed guys I
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will add a couple of things you know
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what what Merlin man was talking about
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when he was talking about inbox zero is
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that David Allen talked about this idea
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that your task inbox should really be
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cleared out every 24 to 48 hours and I
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don’t actually know what David Allen was
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specifically thinking but I have tended
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to think about that from the perspective
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that he wasn’t talking about necessarily
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your communications inboxes that is
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email and voicemail boxes and so forth
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he was really talking about your in tray
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the basket in which you receive your
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inputs right so whether you took notes
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or received letters or memos or whatever
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that inbox was the one that I perceive
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him to frequently be talking about not
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necessarily your email inbox but it is
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another one of those in baskets as he
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talks about and getting things done so I
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get it my thought here is that it’s
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really important or let me take a step
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back what I believe Merlin Mann was
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talking about and and sort of the the
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crux of what he was talking about was
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that very similar to the way that we
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receive mail in our home mail boxes we
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receive a an influx of physical inputs
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and we take those out and we deal with
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them and we don’t put them back in the
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mail box right they it’s sort of a
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one-way conveyor belt if you want to
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think of it that way that we process
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things and go go from there so
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if we want to if we want to have a clear
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sort of runway in in or ground level in
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GTD language we then need to that we
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need to then have a an ability to
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process or clarify those things that are
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coming in as inputs and and dealing with
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just the things that are new as they’re
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coming in the inbox is a poor place to
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manage inputs if we’ve got a whole bunch
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of other stuff in there that may or may
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not even be organized but the things
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that come in into in should truly be new
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stuff coming in not just old stuff
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that’s been hanging around so one of the
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interesting things about the time Merlyn
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man came with was his inbox zero concept
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was that I don’t people were clear but
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the message at the time from from David
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and I agree on that it wasn’t clear on
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well you’re going to process but he was
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really well you process what you can and
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and what he’s come said there were those
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two concepts that he brought that were
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quite interested interesting at the time
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one was that inbox Hiro comment that
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that really put him into a famous part
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for colored some way because he was he
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bring it over to say well it’s not
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enough to to be able to process you
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really need to get surround your goal
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need to be to process everything so you
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don’t have everything or stuff hanging
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out and the other thing that he brought
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pretty close to that was the concept of
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the hipster PDA where you start having
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your system in paper in index cards to
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be precise and that’s how you create a
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system the problem with the paper system
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is still my problem to this day as much
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as I will love it is it do not allow it
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only allow a certain amount of input and
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as soon as you surpass that point you
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break it
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but the inbox zero it’s still a good
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concept and it’s a good concept that
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sadly for most people it’s unheard of
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you know I there is a on one and one of
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the many things I have heard David Allen
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talking he he made a point that that is
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really interesting and he said most
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people has never seen inbox zero if you
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go right now and open a new email
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account doesn’t matter if you are going
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to pay for exchange or office 365 you
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are going to get corporate Google or you
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just go for a free account anywhere as
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soon as you open and get to that inbox
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you already have to okay because you
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have a welcome and set up and so for
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most people inbox zero is something that
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is unheard of and because of that they
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have never experienced the power who
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have have to look at that and have
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everything process during the years I
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have advised people to unplug you know
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kill the web download your email on
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disconnect from the internet and then
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respond to that process all that you
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know doesn’t matter the emails will go
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out as soon as you reconnect to the
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internet but is for most people the only
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chance you have to actually get to zero
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I get you know emails are afraid that if
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I don’t disconnect that way I will never
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see inbox zero and I wish to say that
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I’m unique on that but sadly that’s not
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batch of originality anymore yeah here I
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want to backtrack a second though and
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now that my brain cells are starting to
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fire properly on a Monday morning the
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concept of inbox zero I think starts off
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with a misnomer when we say inbox zero
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and I’m going back to what I read from
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Merlin Mann and that sort we make the
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mistake of associating directly inbox
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with email and that’s not the case in
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this context inboxes incoming
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work requests incoming information
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whether it’s in an email whether it’s an
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instant message whether it’s a paper
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mail you get whether it’s a note for
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yourself you leave in the desk if you
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look at how GTD works you have Alan lays
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out have a box and if you have something
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to do you write a note on it and you
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stick it in the box and you process that
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box down so the exercise is really
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around the processing of incoming
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information that capture meant mechanism
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it does not directly have to associate
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with inbox with an email inbox nice it
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when I was thinking about this this
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morning and last night that’s where I
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was getting a little hung up because we
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get so wrapped up in this I’ve got to
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get my inbox
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ergo email inbox down to nothing in it
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there is no correlation between that and
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being productive
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there is no causality there whatsoever
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being able to handle everything that’s
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coming in and whatever mechanism it’s
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coming in and process it into your
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trusted system is my understanding the
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core of what inbox zero truly is it’s
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closing those loops out and not letting
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stuff just sit out there in the capture
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stage of your process now with that
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being said inbox associated with in
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email is probably the biggest culprit of
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stuff coming to us but when Merlin man
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originally set this up that would be a
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direct association that would be true
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but that’s not the case anymore we’ve
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got so many inputs now whether it’s
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email whether it’s social media whatever
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we’ve got to have systems that allow us
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to pull in multiple things and put it
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into a conceptual inbox and I think what
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triggered it for me is I used to do it
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for all my tasks tracking and the
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default box that they use the default
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place for new tasks to go in is called
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the Inbox
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I agree with you and and that’s one of
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the things that was starting to change
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at that time you know before before that
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talk you know we as much of some of the
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technologies like text message and those
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things are now seems like oh we have
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have them forever
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there were technologies that were not
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necessarily must adopted yet when when
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that talk came out and and there was
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other on there and there was the other
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in books and I agree he referred inbox
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zero us every inbox you have the problem
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is for most people you know a lot of
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that inbox zero thing happened to be on
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the email that’s and emails and text
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messages even more than voicemails these
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days I don’t you know I don’t get at
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least for me I don’t get as many voice
250
00:12:10,050 –> 00:12:18,090
mails as I get texts and emails but if
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you don’t know how to process all those
252
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what you leave is a bunch of stuff
253
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hanging around that it will make
254
00:12:25,020 –> 00:12:30,270
impossible that it will make impossible
255
00:12:28,020 –> 00:12:32,010
to accomplish that inbox here that at
256
00:12:30,270 –> 00:12:34,650
the same time make impossible to
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accomplish having any kind of control
258
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over anything so I think there are
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arguments on both sides of the of the
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aisle for inbox zero I I’m gonna place a
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00:12:44,430 –> 00:12:49,770
link to an interesting article from The
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00:12:46,800 –> 00:12:53,250
Next Web that talks about the kind of
263
00:12:49,770 –> 00:12:55,890
anti inbox zero sentiment that has kind
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00:12:53,250 –> 00:12:59,490
of grown up over time you know even Elon
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Musk has has said inbox zero is is is a
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00:12:59,490 –> 00:13:06,000
fad is that this kind of trend akin to I
267
00:13:03,810 –> 00:13:07,860
forget what he what he likened it to but
268
00:13:06,000 –> 00:13:11,370
he’s couldn’t kind of likened it to some
269
00:13:07,860 –> 00:13:13,710
something you know of a contemporary
270
00:13:11,370 –> 00:13:16,350
sort of fad that we have today and and I
271
00:13:13,710 –> 00:13:19,350
again I go back to this idea that inbox
272
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zero has value in the sense that you
273
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know this we should be understanding
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that
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inputs are not where we maintain and
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manage actions and therefore we should
277
00:13:28,900 –> 00:13:36,100
be we should be moving things along a
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route to get to a functional managed
279
00:13:36,100 –> 00:13:42,490
space and I think that’s important again
280
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I’m gonna I’m gonna always lay waste to
281
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the idea that inbox zero applies to
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anything more important than your task
283
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inbox as art was talking about you know
284
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where mate maybe to do a store other
285
00:13:56,290 –> 00:13:59,860
tools like remember the milk or
286
00:13:57,640 –> 00:14:02,589
OmniFocus or otherwise they provide an
287
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inbox for your tasks that are that are
288
00:14:02,589 –> 00:14:08,320
incoming potential commitments those
289
00:14:06,100 –> 00:14:11,050
things that are coming in that’s way
290
00:14:08,320 –> 00:14:14,500
more important to process than email
291
00:14:11,050 –> 00:14:18,100
however in the context of inbox zero for
292
00:14:14,500 –> 00:14:19,930
email I think it’s this this is a good
293
00:14:18,100 –> 00:14:21,790
time for me to sort of flush out this
294
00:14:19,930 –> 00:14:23,529
idea that I’ve I’ve been I’ve been
295
00:14:21,790 –> 00:14:25,630
talking about and thinking about for
296
00:14:23,529 –> 00:14:28,060
quite some time which is which I just
297
00:14:25,630 –> 00:14:29,740
have casually coined in box one I’m not
298
00:14:28,060 –> 00:14:33,220
I’m not particularly particularly wedded
299
00:14:29,740 –> 00:14:38,710
to the name but the idea here is that
300
00:14:33,220 –> 00:14:42,430
you have a as few inboxes as possible
301
00:14:38,710 –> 00:14:44,860
for input from many different sources
302
00:14:42,430 –> 00:14:47,380
and because technology allows for that
303
00:14:44,860 –> 00:14:51,480
to be the case we can do that so for
304
00:14:47,380 –> 00:14:55,710
example I have you know signed up with a
305
00:14:51,480 –> 00:15:00,070
an online service that takes my mail and
306
00:14:55,710 –> 00:15:03,730
digitizes that and sends me the mail you
307
00:15:00,070 –> 00:15:07,480
know via email and just shows up in my
308
00:15:03,730 –> 00:15:11,320
inbox all of my email messages all come
309
00:15:07,480 –> 00:15:13,120
into my my inbox right from many
310
00:15:11,320 –> 00:15:14,980
different sources so that I can see that
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00:15:13,120 –> 00:15:18,040
I’ve even gone to the effective of
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00:15:14,980 –> 00:15:20,130
having all of my text messages and
313
00:15:18,040 –> 00:15:22,720
voicemail messages through Google Voice
314
00:15:20,130 –> 00:15:26,740
forward it into my email inbox now
315
00:15:22,720 –> 00:15:29,800
remember if I’m using my phone I’m going
316
00:15:26,740 –> 00:15:32,890
to see those messages there so in in my
317
00:15:29,800 –> 00:15:35,070
system I’ve filtered them to folders so
318
00:15:32,890 –> 00:15:37,500
they’re not showing up all and
319
00:15:35,070 –> 00:15:39,449
in my inbox I don’t need to see those in
320
00:15:37,500 –> 00:15:41,490
my inbox but if I’m sitting at my
321
00:15:39,449 –> 00:15:43,079
computer and I’m not looking at my phone
322
00:15:41,490 –> 00:15:46,800
then that’s where I’m going to be able
323
00:15:43,079 –> 00:15:48,930
to take inputs process them respond and
324
00:15:46,800 –> 00:15:51,060
get rid of them almost instantaneously
325
00:15:48,930 –> 00:15:52,079
and I’m sitting at a full keyboard and I
326
00:15:51,060 –> 00:15:54,990
don’t know about the rest of you
327
00:15:52,079 –> 00:15:56,430
gentlemen but I tend to process much
328
00:15:54,990 –> 00:15:58,620
better when I have a full keyboard in
329
00:15:56,430 –> 00:16:00,870
front of me and and that doesn’t matter
330
00:15:58,620 –> 00:16:02,519
what screen it is I just really like
331
00:16:00,870 –> 00:16:07,050
having a full keyboard in front of me so
332
00:16:02,519 –> 00:16:09,089
the idea of inbox one is to to you know
333
00:16:07,050 –> 00:16:13,259
have as many inboxes as you need but
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00:16:09,089 –> 00:16:16,980
know no more and to have as few inboxes
335
00:16:13,259 –> 00:16:18,839
as possible and no fewer and and if
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00:16:16,980 –> 00:16:21,029
that’s if that’s one inbox that’s
337
00:16:18,839 –> 00:16:22,949
fantastic because then you have this one
338
00:16:21,029 –> 00:16:26,819
place where everything is coming into
339
00:16:22,949 –> 00:16:30,899
and if it’s not like for me I have a
340
00:16:26,819 –> 00:16:33,529
work you know inbox and a personal inbox
341
00:16:30,899 –> 00:16:37,290
and I filter those separately because of
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00:16:33,529 –> 00:16:39,360
context I don’t think many people would
343
00:16:37,290 –> 00:16:41,069
do very well and I’m curious to hear
344
00:16:39,360 –> 00:16:42,930
your thoughts on this as to whether many
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00:16:41,069 –> 00:16:45,690
people would do well to have an inbox
346
00:16:42,930 –> 00:16:48,540
one for their entire life both words
347
00:16:45,690 –> 00:16:50,790
work and personal but perhaps there are
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00:16:48,540 –> 00:16:52,079
people out there who can do that it’s
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00:16:50,790 –> 00:16:54,990
kind of like people who like to manage
350
00:16:52,079 –> 00:16:57,029
all of their productivity system in one
351
00:16:54,990 –> 00:16:59,190
tool like an like a Microsoft Outlook
352
00:16:57,029 –> 00:17:02,670
where they they actually manage tasks
353
00:16:59,190 –> 00:17:05,309
calendar email and notes and zones of
354
00:17:02,670 –> 00:17:07,439
worth all within outlook versus having
355
00:17:05,309 –> 00:17:09,959
multiple applications for it you know I
356
00:17:07,439 –> 00:17:12,449
can see definitely doing that I’ve seen
357
00:17:09,959 –> 00:17:14,850
and I’ve considered it myself where I
358
00:17:12,449 –> 00:17:17,220
personally run into a hang-up is on the
359
00:17:14,850 –> 00:17:19,530
processing of the physical materials
360
00:17:17,220 –> 00:17:21,689
into the digital system by a third party
361
00:17:19,530 –> 00:17:23,130
like having my email forwarded and
362
00:17:21,689 –> 00:17:24,600
skinned dead that just gives me the
363
00:17:23,130 –> 00:17:27,360
heebie-jeebies so that’s not gonna
364
00:17:24,600 –> 00:17:29,760
happen on on my watch for me
365
00:17:27,360 –> 00:17:33,780
but those are things that I can manually
366
00:17:29,760 –> 00:17:35,880
process into my system being able to I
367
00:17:33,780 –> 00:17:37,980
think where you run into the challenge
368
00:17:35,880 –> 00:17:40,500
with that idea though is not the idea
369
00:17:37,980 –> 00:17:42,750
it’s the fact then you wind up with a
370
00:17:40,500 –> 00:17:45,570
tool that you’re trying to manage
371
00:17:42,750 –> 00:17:48,330
everything with and then we have then we
372
00:17:45,570 –> 00:17:48,990
get into that death spiral of trying to
373
00:17:48,330 –> 00:17:51,330
find
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00:17:48,990 –> 00:17:54,570
the perfect tool that will do everything
375
00:17:51,330 –> 00:17:57,299
that we need for that everything that’s
376
00:17:54,570 –> 00:17:59,369
coming into that box and I have yet to
377
00:17:57,299 –> 00:18:01,860
find something like that I found things
378
00:17:59,369 –> 00:18:03,990
close to it but nothing ever is a
379
00:18:01,860 –> 00:18:06,389
hundred percent so you constantly are
380
00:18:03,990 –> 00:18:08,220
having to tune in and check out the next
381
00:18:06,389 –> 00:18:08,909
latest and greatest tool that’s coming
382
00:18:08,220 –> 00:18:12,480
down the path
383
00:18:08,909 –> 00:18:16,230
I like the idea I use it primarily for
384
00:18:12,480 –> 00:18:19,619
as I said before for incoming emails but
385
00:18:16,230 –> 00:18:21,869
even then I don’t know that it’s a great
386
00:18:19,619 –> 00:18:25,080
idea but it just seems really hard to
387
00:18:21,869 –> 00:18:26,789
implement I can understand that I can
388
00:18:25,080 –> 00:18:29,549
understand how how one would think that
389
00:18:26,789 –> 00:18:32,190
it would be difficult and I guess I did
390
00:18:29,549 –> 00:18:34,759
spend a considerable amount of time over
391
00:18:32,190 –> 00:18:37,169
the years perfecting this you know I
392
00:18:34,759 –> 00:18:40,830
didn’t just start out with a fujitsu
393
00:18:37,169 –> 00:18:42,480
scansnap ix500 you know and and
394
00:18:40,830 –> 00:18:44,399
certainly many of the things that are
395
00:18:42,480 –> 00:18:47,999
available today weren’t available when I
396
00:18:44,399 –> 00:18:50,220
first came up with this idea but today I
397
00:18:47,999 –> 00:18:52,139
pretty much don’t have a problem I mean
398
00:18:50,220 –> 00:18:55,619
you know like when if I want to scan
399
00:18:52,139 –> 00:18:58,700
something all of my my scanners and and
400
00:18:55,619 –> 00:19:01,919
devices now have the ability to send a
401
00:18:58,700 –> 00:19:04,289
scan to a particular place and I just
402
00:19:01,919 –> 00:19:07,499
have it auto set up to email it directly
403
00:19:04,289 –> 00:19:11,279
in to where it needs to go to or I email
404
00:19:07,499 –> 00:19:13,649
it to myself so if I scan up one of my
405
00:19:11,279 –> 00:19:15,869
multifunction you know printers copy
406
00:19:13,649 –> 00:19:19,559
copier scanner devices that’s that’s
407
00:19:15,869 –> 00:19:23,249
already kind of an easy one the the
408
00:19:19,559 –> 00:19:26,549
scanner I use is is designed to be able
409
00:19:23,249 –> 00:19:28,350
to direct things all automatically to
410
00:19:26,549 –> 00:19:30,600
where I want them to go so if it’s a
411
00:19:28,350 –> 00:19:32,940
receipt it’s gonna go into my receipts
412
00:19:30,600 –> 00:19:35,869
notebook within Evernote and sones
413
00:19:32,940 –> 00:19:38,840
afford so that’s kind of a non-issue
414
00:19:35,869 –> 00:19:42,090
regarding the the mail scanning I
415
00:19:38,840 –> 00:19:44,309
totally hear you art however the US
416
00:19:42,090 –> 00:19:45,950
Postal Service scans everything anyway I
417
00:19:44,309 –> 00:19:48,570
mean they’re looking at everything
418
00:19:45,950 –> 00:19:50,070
purely for security purposes making sure
419
00:19:48,570 –> 00:19:52,379
that you know there is an anthrax in
420
00:19:50,070 –> 00:19:54,330
your mail and so and so forth so that’s
421
00:19:52,379 –> 00:19:57,600
kind of computerized so I you know not
422
00:19:54,330 –> 00:19:59,190
particularly a bad thing but the but the
423
00:19:57,600 –> 00:20:02,540
service that I’ve been using earth class
424
00:19:59,190 –> 00:20:03,920
mail I trust them I haven’t you know
425
00:20:02,540 –> 00:20:07,630
it’s not like I’m reading I’m getting
426
00:20:03,920 –> 00:20:10,220
anything in my mail that I feel like is
427
00:20:07,630 –> 00:20:12,850
ultimately to private and again it’s you
428
00:20:10,220 –> 00:20:15,860
know most of what’s being done is
429
00:20:12,850 –> 00:20:17,870
automated so it’s not like I’m someone’s
430
00:20:15,860 –> 00:20:22,100
sitting around reading my Christmas
431
00:20:17,870 –> 00:20:25,640
letters one of the things I also think
432
00:20:22,100 –> 00:20:31,730
trips this up is the segmentation and
433
00:20:25,640 –> 00:20:33,680
the separation between work and personal
434
00:20:31,730 –> 00:20:35,540
especially if you’re working in a
435
00:20:33,680 –> 00:20:37,810
corporate environment because then you
436
00:20:35,540 –> 00:20:43,540
don’t really have the latitude to
437
00:20:37,810 –> 00:20:47,140
integrate the two systems together no I
438
00:20:43,540 –> 00:20:50,240
don’t want to necessarily bring the gear
439
00:20:47,140 –> 00:20:53,840
conversation but I think the gear need
440
00:20:50,240 –> 00:20:56,540
to be mentioned too because one of the
441
00:20:53,840 –> 00:21:00,860
things that used to be different when
442
00:20:56,540 –> 00:21:05,690
all this inbox zero conversation came is
443
00:21:00,860 –> 00:21:12,050
for most people email at work happen at
444
00:21:05,690 –> 00:21:14,750
work you know it’s there was no you know
445
00:21:12,050 –> 00:21:16,760
that that thing that we seen today that
446
00:21:14,750 –> 00:21:20,240
connectivity or that level of
447
00:21:16,760 –> 00:21:23,500
connectivity that we have where most
448
00:21:20,240 –> 00:21:26,810
people has access to their email
449
00:21:23,500 –> 00:21:28,820
everywhere and their computers are going
450
00:21:26,810 –> 00:21:31,940
with they’re everywhere
451
00:21:28,820 –> 00:21:35,630
it wasn’t necessarily true at that time
452
00:21:31,940 –> 00:21:38,180
okay and and even that inbox here oh
453
00:21:35,630 –> 00:21:39,560
it’s not all about email email it’s a
454
00:21:38,180 –> 00:21:41,840
big factor in here
455
00:21:39,560 –> 00:21:44,840
mostly because it’s the biggest host
456
00:21:41,840 –> 00:21:46,760
most people have their actual bigger one
457
00:21:44,840 –> 00:21:49,160
that people don’t notice is text
458
00:21:46,760 –> 00:21:52,580
messages okay
459
00:21:49,160 –> 00:21:54,950
used to be email I think now people get
460
00:21:52,580 –> 00:21:57,380
more input via text message and it’s
461
00:21:54,950 –> 00:22:01,460
even more ignored than what email was
462
00:21:57,380 –> 00:22:04,370
but then comes the hardware issue it
463
00:22:01,460 –> 00:22:07,610
used to be that you know you may get
464
00:22:04,370 –> 00:22:11,140
email on a home computer and you may get
465
00:22:07,610 –> 00:22:13,600
email on a work computer and they never
466
00:22:11,140 –> 00:22:17,020
necessarily mix and match
467
00:22:13,600 –> 00:22:20,560
for most people these days their main
468
00:22:17,020 –> 00:22:24,790
machine is their iPhone or Android phone
469
00:22:20,560 –> 00:22:27,490
or mobile phone okay and on there for
470
00:22:24,790 –> 00:22:30,070
most people do you get personal do you
471
00:22:27,490 –> 00:22:34,360
get text messages you get work and you
472
00:22:30,070 –> 00:22:37,210
get everything else and that comes to
473
00:22:34,360 –> 00:22:41,260
the problem of how good can you manage
474
00:22:37,210 –> 00:22:44,080
and process all that in that device I’ve
475
00:22:41,260 –> 00:22:46,990
been arguing over the years that people
476
00:22:44,080 –> 00:22:49,240
should have stopped checking email on
477
00:22:46,990 –> 00:22:52,330
their iPhone and or their phone mobile
478
00:22:49,240 –> 00:22:55,300
phone okay and mostly because people do
479
00:22:52,330 –> 00:22:58,750
not have the ability the knowledge or
480
00:22:55,300 –> 00:23:00,640
the technique to process in the same way
481
00:22:58,750 –> 00:23:03,610
they will do it on their own machine so
482
00:23:00,640 –> 00:23:08,110
what that does is you look at email on
483
00:23:03,610 –> 00:23:11,020
your phone okay you try to move fires
484
00:23:08,110 –> 00:23:13,690
away and then get back to your computer
485
00:23:11,020 –> 00:23:15,580
and then reprocess email by the way if
486
00:23:13,690 –> 00:23:17,560
your main machine is not a tablet and
487
00:23:15,580 –> 00:23:20,580
you are not processing email on the
488
00:23:17,560 –> 00:23:23,680
tablet that works exactly the same way
489
00:23:20,580 –> 00:23:25,750
in conjunction to that people is getting
490
00:23:23,680 –> 00:23:27,970
on their phones you know now they’re
491
00:23:25,750 –> 00:23:31,570
using them as a scanners taking pictures
492
00:23:27,970 –> 00:23:34,030
of stuff they want to remember and they
493
00:23:31,570 –> 00:23:37,800
are getting a bunch of text messages
494
00:23:34,030 –> 00:23:41,940
that it is input is part of that inbox
495
00:23:37,800 –> 00:23:48,910
but in many many many cases is simply
496
00:23:41,940 –> 00:23:51,040
super poorly processed so again I did
497
00:23:48,910 –> 00:23:53,440
not wanted to bring the hard word into
498
00:23:51,040 –> 00:23:56,470
into this but I think one of the things
499
00:23:53,440 –> 00:24:01,780
that was not a reality when inbox hero
500
00:23:56,470 –> 00:24:05,710
talk came out is how much hard word has
501
00:24:01,780 –> 00:24:08,830
changed and the new hardware the new
502
00:24:05,710 –> 00:24:12,400
accessibility of hardware has made for
503
00:24:08,830 –> 00:24:18,640
people even harder to reach this inbox
504
00:24:12,400 –> 00:24:22,270
hero to really process because a lot of
505
00:24:18,640 –> 00:24:27,960
that input now is hiding is invisible
506
00:24:22,270 –> 00:24:27,960
and it is on most people’s mobile phone
507
00:24:28,049 –> 00:24:33,269
just to give context to what you’re
508
00:24:30,279 –> 00:24:36,070
talking about it gusto is that the
509
00:24:33,269 –> 00:24:40,539
concept of inbox zero came out a month
510
00:24:36,070 –> 00:24:43,690
or at least Merlin man’s talk at Google
511
00:24:40,539 –> 00:24:45,999
came out a month after the iPhone was
512
00:24:43,690 –> 00:24:48,609
released so up until that point people
513
00:24:45,999 –> 00:24:51,460
did have access to email on their on
514
00:24:48,609 –> 00:24:55,330
their mobile devices but those are very
515
00:24:51,460 –> 00:24:57,129
very few people you know it was IIIi
516
00:24:55,330 –> 00:24:59,320
think you might agree with me maybe you
517
00:24:57,129 –> 00:25:02,649
don’t agree with me but this was a
518
00:24:59,320 –> 00:25:04,419
probably small population of of people
519
00:25:02,649 –> 00:25:07,929
who have access to email on their phones
520
00:25:04,419 –> 00:25:09,820
and now today almost everybody accesses
521
00:25:07,929 –> 00:25:13,359
email from their phones so that’s
522
00:25:09,820 –> 00:25:17,049
exactly my point yes before I before
523
00:25:13,359 –> 00:25:19,629
that point okay email I mean the trio’s
524
00:25:17,049 –> 00:25:21,999
were able to get some emails but it
525
00:25:19,629 –> 00:25:24,100
wasn’t really effective okay people were
526
00:25:21,999 –> 00:25:25,869
really doing email on their phone were
527
00:25:24,100 –> 00:25:28,210
they blackberry or the crack barriers
528
00:25:25,869 –> 00:25:30,489
was what’s called at that time they
529
00:25:28,210 –> 00:25:33,820
cracked bury people guilty as charged
530
00:25:30,489 –> 00:25:37,330
yeah it was the CrackBerry people but
531
00:25:33,820 –> 00:25:41,139
but if you think about it also at that
532
00:25:37,330 –> 00:25:43,869
time the amount of text messages that
533
00:25:41,139 –> 00:25:46,450
people were receiving were really really
534
00:25:43,869 –> 00:25:48,549
low the cameras on some of those phones
535
00:25:46,450 –> 00:25:51,249
on even most blackberries did not have a
536
00:25:48,549 –> 00:25:54,999
camera because they were aim off on a
537
00:25:51,249 –> 00:25:56,850
time where IT control a lot of the
538
00:25:54,999 –> 00:26:00,549
things and the cameras were I know No
539
00:25:56,850 –> 00:26:02,889
okay so you even the people on the
540
00:26:00,549 –> 00:26:04,450
blackberries they could read the email
541
00:26:02,889 –> 00:26:06,190
they could reply they even maybe
542
00:26:04,450 –> 00:26:09,700
organized the email but that was the
543
00:26:06,190 –> 00:26:12,070
only input or the principal domain input
544
00:26:09,700 –> 00:26:14,590
they were getting at that time even when
545
00:26:12,070 –> 00:26:18,450
this talk came out when the iPhone came
546
00:26:14,590 –> 00:26:22,570
out took a little bit time to get into
547
00:26:18,450 –> 00:26:24,940
that crazy world of texting back and
548
00:26:22,570 –> 00:26:27,480
forward it was really limited to a group
549
00:26:24,940 –> 00:26:29,980
of people so it was not a mainstream
550
00:26:27,480 –> 00:26:32,379
problem you know and let me remind you
551
00:26:29,980 –> 00:26:36,399
that at that time is you want to say you
552
00:26:32,379 –> 00:26:38,799
know take a hike you need to hit the
553
00:26:36,399 –> 00:26:39,940
number seven four times so you get to
554
00:26:38,799 –> 00:26:43,649
the letter T
555
00:26:39,940 –> 00:26:47,080
it wasn’t simple to send a text message
556
00:26:43,649 –> 00:26:49,149
okay I remember those days you know
557
00:26:47,080 –> 00:26:51,220
where do these seven seventy seven one
558
00:26:49,149 –> 00:26:54,279
seven seven seven oh I made a mistake
559
00:26:51,220 –> 00:26:56,529
delete it wasn’t simple it was not what
560
00:26:54,279 –> 00:26:59,679
it is right now even the same thing was
561
00:26:56,529 –> 00:27:01,750
an email yeah you know even the
562
00:26:59,679 –> 00:27:05,909
BlackBerry people that was hurt the
563
00:27:01,750 –> 00:27:08,980
input I understand but you had one
564
00:27:05,909 –> 00:27:15,330
element coming into that blackberry thin
565
00:27:08,980 –> 00:27:19,330
now crap smartphone for most people and
566
00:27:15,330 –> 00:27:21,850
you know this everything is in there you
567
00:27:19,330 –> 00:27:26,200
know that is scary proposition how
568
00:27:21,850 –> 00:27:29,639
little people understand how much is on
569
00:27:26,200 –> 00:27:34,600
their mobile phones and how little
570
00:27:29,639 –> 00:27:37,139
security they have around it but I think
571
00:27:34,600 –> 00:27:39,730
that the there’s a first there’s a basic
572
00:27:37,139 –> 00:27:41,409
sort of first principle at play here
573
00:27:39,730 –> 00:27:45,789
which we can a touchdown in the last
574
00:27:41,409 –> 00:27:48,129
call on on having multiple inboxes I
575
00:27:45,789 –> 00:27:50,850
think that when you set an inbox up
576
00:27:48,129 –> 00:27:55,899
you’re inviting the world to send you
577
00:27:50,850 –> 00:27:59,679
data and so that data involves triggers
578
00:27:55,899 –> 00:28:01,389
that then lead you to create tasks so
579
00:27:59,679 –> 00:28:04,870
just from a tasks point of view all
580
00:28:01,389 –> 00:28:07,200
these different call them in boxes or
581
00:28:04,870 –> 00:28:09,360
direct messages please as you collect
582
00:28:07,200 –> 00:28:12,279
feedback on your wall on Facebook
583
00:28:09,360 –> 00:28:13,690
they’re all from a task point of view
584
00:28:12,279 –> 00:28:15,759
they’re all performing the same function
585
00:28:13,690 –> 00:28:18,370
which is that they’re your interface to
586
00:28:15,759 –> 00:28:19,210
the outside world or people can send you
587
00:28:18,370 –> 00:28:21,759
anything they want
588
00:28:19,210 –> 00:28:24,549
and although the stuff that they send
589
00:28:21,759 –> 00:28:27,190
you some of it triggers tasks so the
590
00:28:24,549 –> 00:28:30,789
question is how do you effectively pull
591
00:28:27,190 –> 00:28:32,740
all of these locations so that you can
592
00:28:30,789 –> 00:28:34,570
figure out the triggers from the non
593
00:28:32,740 –> 00:28:37,509
triggers or the signals from the noise
594
00:28:34,570 –> 00:28:41,259
and I think your concept of in inbox one
595
00:28:37,509 –> 00:28:43,149
is right on the money in that we’ve we
596
00:28:41,259 –> 00:28:45,669
have all these different places now on
597
00:28:43,149 –> 00:28:48,129
the internet and inboxes that some apps
598
00:28:45,669 –> 00:28:50,019
give us that we don’t even want we have
599
00:28:48,129 –> 00:28:53,289
social networking and of course we have
600
00:28:50,019 –> 00:28:53,920
regular traditional email but they all
601
00:28:53,289 –> 00:28:56,560
are function
602
00:28:53,920 –> 00:29:00,700
in the same way and if we can bring them
603
00:28:56,560 –> 00:29:05,760
into a single location so when I first
604
00:29:00,700 –> 00:29:07,750
started using Android and Android
605
00:29:05,760 –> 00:29:10,020
smartphone I was really happy because I
606
00:29:07,750 –> 00:29:13,420
could bring out bring in many of these
607
00:29:10,020 –> 00:29:14,920
inboxes or locations into one and it
608
00:29:13,420 –> 00:29:16,990
although it couldn’t I couldn’t bring it
609
00:29:14,920 –> 00:29:19,180
into one software which I really wanted
610
00:29:16,990 –> 00:29:21,340
I at least had it in one physical
611
00:29:19,180 –> 00:29:23,230
location which was my smartphone and
612
00:29:21,340 –> 00:29:26,110
that could travel with me that was a
613
00:29:23,230 –> 00:29:27,610
huge huge huge difference a huge benefit
614
00:29:26,110 –> 00:29:30,250
compared to what I had before which was
615
00:29:27,610 –> 00:29:31,780
stuff scattered on different devices so
616
00:29:30,250 –> 00:29:33,670
I think you’re right on the money and
617
00:29:31,780 –> 00:29:35,830
the the reason you’re on the money I
618
00:29:33,670 –> 00:29:39,340
think is because you want to bring as
619
00:29:35,830 –> 00:29:41,710
many potential triggers for tasks into a
620
00:29:39,340 –> 00:29:44,830
single location so that you can process
621
00:29:41,710 –> 00:29:48,040
all of them in one go because the worst
622
00:29:44,830 –> 00:29:49,750
thing to have is to have some location
623
00:29:48,040 –> 00:29:52,960
some inbox hanging out there somewhere
624
00:29:49,750 –> 00:29:55,480
which is collecting triggers which
625
00:29:52,960 –> 00:29:56,650
should be turned into tasks but because
626
00:29:55,480 –> 00:29:58,780
they’re remote
627
00:29:56,650 –> 00:30:02,230
you’re not checking them as religiously
628
00:29:58,780 –> 00:30:04,000
or as discipline the fashion or whatever
629
00:30:02,230 –> 00:30:05,650
it might be which could lead to a
630
00:30:04,000 –> 00:30:07,750
tragedy which means that there’s some
631
00:30:05,650 –> 00:30:10,210
some measures coming in that should
632
00:30:07,750 –> 00:30:13,570
trigger a task that you’re not actually
633
00:30:10,210 –> 00:30:17,320
catching so there’s a discipline to so
634
00:30:13,570 –> 00:30:20,260
so bringing all of these different
635
00:30:17,320 –> 00:30:22,000
locations into one I think I’m sort of
636
00:30:20,260 –> 00:30:24,250
gusto was talking about which is if you
637
00:30:22,000 –> 00:30:27,070
can be disciplined and check all of them
638
00:30:24,250 –> 00:30:29,230
then you’re fine however most of us have
639
00:30:27,070 –> 00:30:31,420
a very difficult time given that they’re
640
00:30:29,230 –> 00:30:34,840
scattered around or or ecosystems so we
641
00:30:31,420 –> 00:30:38,110
end up failing and then the last piece I
642
00:30:34,840 –> 00:30:40,060
think is that some people get the idea
643
00:30:38,110 –> 00:30:42,700
of inbox zero all mixed up and
644
00:30:40,060 –> 00:30:44,740
especially true today based on what a
645
00:30:42,700 –> 00:30:47,140
booster just said which is they think
646
00:30:44,740 –> 00:30:50,380
that’s skimming their inbox and leaving
647
00:30:47,140 –> 00:30:52,630
some stuff behind is the way to go and
648
00:30:50,380 –> 00:30:55,450
when people inbox zero inbox they think
649
00:30:52,630 –> 00:30:58,390
it means as soon as a message comes in I
650
00:30:55,450 –> 00:31:01,390
need to handle it immediately so they
651
00:30:58,390 –> 00:31:03,670
they they they turn they’re all these
652
00:31:01,390 –> 00:31:05,530
different inputs into places that they
653
00:31:03,670 –> 00:31:06,760
need to keep checking and checking on
654
00:31:05,530 –> 00:31:07,990
check in and check in and check in and
655
00:31:06,760 –> 00:31:10,540
the truth
656
00:31:07,990 –> 00:31:12,280
they can never check enough so their
657
00:31:10,540 –> 00:31:14,980
their concept of inbox interior is
658
00:31:12,280 –> 00:31:17,800
incorrect the the proper concept if they
659
00:31:14,980 –> 00:31:21,340
could follow inbox one is that they
660
00:31:17,800 –> 00:31:24,400
could check all of them at one time
661
00:31:21,340 –> 00:31:26,260
empty them all down to zero and then
662
00:31:24,400 –> 00:31:29,140
move on to actually do the work that’s
663
00:31:26,260 –> 00:31:32,170
the ultimate principle it’s just that we
664
00:31:29,140 –> 00:31:34,450
don’t quite have the software or maybe
665
00:31:32,170 –> 00:31:37,540
the hardware to allow us to do that
666
00:31:34,450 –> 00:31:39,250
discipline effectively I think if some
667
00:31:37,540 –> 00:31:41,320
really salient points there Francis and
668
00:31:39,250 –> 00:31:43,420
I and I wanted to just add on one one
669
00:31:41,320 –> 00:31:46,120
more thought that I had before we move
670
00:31:43,420 –> 00:31:49,780
on to processing and clarifying email
671
00:31:46,120 –> 00:31:54,160
messages which is that for those who who
672
00:31:49,780 –> 00:31:57,970
are part of your job is to respond to
673
00:31:54,160 –> 00:32:01,750
email messages do not take what we’re
674
00:31:57,970 –> 00:32:05,170
saying as one an opportunity to shirk
675
00:32:01,750 –> 00:32:08,770
your role and responsibilities the other
676
00:32:05,170 –> 00:32:13,450
is that this may not work for you right
677
00:32:08,770 –> 00:32:16,690
because your concept of of how you
678
00:32:13,450 –> 00:32:18,490
transit communications is different than
679
00:32:16,690 –> 00:32:20,860
other people you know when I when I was
680
00:32:18,490 –> 00:32:25,870
I was in I used to own a title agency
681
00:32:20,860 –> 00:32:30,820
and in that timeframe I had email coming
682
00:32:25,870 –> 00:32:33,100
in literally 24 hours a day and so there
683
00:32:30,820 –> 00:32:34,870
was there was no concept of inbox zero
684
00:32:33,100 –> 00:32:36,130
for me because there you know I could
685
00:32:34,870 –> 00:32:38,559
get it to zero but then immediately
686
00:32:36,130 –> 00:32:39,760
thereafter there were new email messages
687
00:32:38,559 –> 00:32:42,490
coming in and I actually went to the
688
00:32:39,760 –> 00:32:45,280
effect of you know turning off my email
689
00:32:42,490 –> 00:32:48,429
account my I’m sorry I turned off my
690
00:32:45,280 –> 00:32:52,360
internet services at one point so that I
691
00:32:48,429 –> 00:32:55,059
could get to zero get some stuff done
692
00:32:52,360 –> 00:32:56,890
and then turn my email back on at
693
00:32:55,059 –> 00:33:00,010
different points in the day because it
694
00:32:56,890 –> 00:33:02,650
was that kind of flow of email plus it
695
00:33:00,010 –> 00:33:05,650
was my responsibility at that time to be
696
00:33:02,650 –> 00:33:07,179
highly responsive to clients you know we
697
00:33:05,650 –> 00:33:09,850
had real estate transactions happening
698
00:33:07,179 –> 00:33:12,370
all throughout the day and people were
699
00:33:09,850 –> 00:33:14,260
depending upon us to be highly
700
00:33:12,370 –> 00:33:16,410
responsive so if you need that in your
701
00:33:14,260 –> 00:33:19,590
work world I totally get it
702
00:33:16,410 –> 00:33:21,470
today I do not have that it’s a very
703
00:33:19,590 –> 00:33:24,860
infrequent I have a client
704
00:33:21,470 –> 00:33:27,440
that needs me to drop everything and do
705
00:33:24,860 –> 00:33:29,510
something because of an email if that is
706
00:33:27,440 –> 00:33:31,630
the case they should have called me
707
00:33:29,510 –> 00:33:34,460
right so there’s a there’s a real
708
00:33:31,630 –> 00:33:35,299
understanding in my world today that
709
00:33:34,460 –> 00:33:38,750
that’s not quite the case
710
00:33:35,299 –> 00:33:42,260
I can sit down process email on really
711
00:33:38,750 –> 00:33:42,890
my schedule and make that happen but if
712
00:33:42,260 –> 00:33:44,630
your world
713
00:33:42,890 –> 00:33:47,270
does not allow for that understand you
714
00:33:44,630 –> 00:33:49,789
must do what you need to do for your job
715
00:33:47,270 –> 00:33:52,429
first and foremost I had a client once
716
00:33:49,789 –> 00:33:54,470
who they were in a similar situation so
717
00:33:52,429 –> 00:33:55,940
the one you just described they had
718
00:33:54,470 –> 00:33:59,419
about five people and they were getting
719
00:33:55,940 –> 00:34:01,640
email from their clients and the emails
720
00:33:59,419 –> 00:34:04,549
were coming in all day long and they
721
00:34:01,640 –> 00:34:06,530
were being copied to all of them and as
722
00:34:04,549 –> 00:34:09,710
you can imagine no one could afford to
723
00:34:06,530 –> 00:34:11,750
leave their inbox for unattended for
724
00:34:09,710 –> 00:34:14,090
more than a few minutes so they all had
725
00:34:11,750 –> 00:34:15,260
all the alerts and pop-ups and you know
726
00:34:14,090 –> 00:34:16,790
all the things that you would expect
727
00:34:15,260 –> 00:34:19,520
that would tell you that you have an
728
00:34:16,790 –> 00:34:20,810
email coming in and that that the answer
729
00:34:19,520 –> 00:34:24,619
turned out to be pretty simple which is
730
00:34:20,810 –> 00:34:26,929
to put in a helpdesk form at triage with
731
00:34:24,619 –> 00:34:30,169
some will have someone have someon or
732
00:34:26,929 –> 00:34:33,159
some function manage all of the incoming
733
00:34:30,169 –> 00:34:36,980
email whether it’s 24/7 or whatever and
734
00:34:33,159 –> 00:34:41,540
that person’s only job is to answer
735
00:34:36,980 –> 00:34:42,919
email put them in order of preference
736
00:34:41,540 –> 00:34:45,349
not preference but putting them some
737
00:34:42,919 –> 00:34:47,570
kind of priority and then transmit that
738
00:34:45,349 –> 00:34:50,540
one who’s someone who can do something
739
00:34:47,570 –> 00:34:52,460
about the problem of course I said it’s
740
00:34:50,540 –> 00:34:55,220
also it’s not a brand new solution by
741
00:34:52,460 –> 00:34:58,430
any means IT IT companies that be using
742
00:34:55,220 –> 00:35:00,349
it forever but it needs aptly it needs
743
00:34:58,430 –> 00:35:02,810
to the principal needs to be applied to
744
00:35:00,349 –> 00:35:04,760
other jobs where people are receiving
745
00:35:02,810 –> 00:35:07,640
email in the way that you just described
746
00:35:04,760 –> 00:35:11,540
and that ultimately the experts be tied
747
00:35:07,640 –> 00:35:13,310
up answering every email unless they are
748
00:35:11,540 –> 00:35:14,930
the helpdesk instead you need to put
749
00:35:13,310 –> 00:35:17,780
this help their skin so that you can
750
00:35:14,930 –> 00:35:20,420
perform triage I would agree I would
751
00:35:17,780 –> 00:35:23,300
agree and so I’m gonna turn the
752
00:35:20,420 –> 00:35:25,160
conversation over now to processing
753
00:35:23,300 –> 00:35:27,200
email messages and I’ll and I’ll start
754
00:35:25,160 –> 00:35:29,240
off and and then we can and then you all
755
00:35:27,200 –> 00:35:31,880
can join in and give your thoughts here
756
00:35:29,240 –> 00:35:33,500
so when when it comes to processing
757
00:35:31,880 –> 00:35:35,090
email messages I think there’s a there
758
00:35:33,500 –> 00:35:37,040
is something very
759
00:35:35,090 –> 00:35:39,950
powerful happening and it’s not
760
00:35:37,040 –> 00:35:43,610
necessarily a good thing which is that
761
00:35:39,950 –> 00:35:48,410
people have this innate need for novelty
762
00:35:43,610 –> 00:35:50,330
and and that has caused email to become
763
00:35:48,410 –> 00:35:52,850
that little dopamine kick that we all
764
00:35:50,330 –> 00:35:55,400
get and we have this sense of what’s
765
00:35:52,850 –> 00:35:58,010
been coined FOMO right fear of missing
766
00:35:55,400 –> 00:36:00,050
out and so we consistently keep checking
767
00:35:58,010 –> 00:36:03,710
our email messages in the hope of
768
00:36:00,050 –> 00:36:06,410
something new and novel and so what what
769
00:36:03,710 –> 00:36:07,910
I’ve done and and I think many others in
770
00:36:06,410 –> 00:36:09,830
the productivity community have talked
771
00:36:07,910 –> 00:36:12,350
about this before but a really powerful
772
00:36:09,830 –> 00:36:15,890
processing tool I’ve used is that I’ve
773
00:36:12,350 –> 00:36:19,730
actually inverted I’ve properly sorted
774
00:36:15,890 –> 00:36:22,910
my email so that it shows up last at
775
00:36:19,730 –> 00:36:26,000
though the oldest at the top of the of
776
00:36:22,910 –> 00:36:29,030
the inbox but that makes sense so when a
777
00:36:26,000 –> 00:36:32,540
new email comes in it shows up at the
778
00:36:29,030 –> 00:36:35,870
bottom of my email list so that I’m
779
00:36:32,540 –> 00:36:38,450
processing the oldest email first and
780
00:36:35,870 –> 00:36:42,520
that’s really helped me because as I get
781
00:36:38,450 –> 00:36:47,030
to inbox zero you know throughout my day
782
00:36:42,520 –> 00:36:48,740
I’m or at least you know inbox less you
783
00:36:47,030 –> 00:36:51,530
know and again I don’t get to inbox zero
784
00:36:48,740 –> 00:36:53,540
every single day I try to I try to
785
00:36:51,530 –> 00:36:57,110
follow David Allen’s principle of every
786
00:36:53,540 –> 00:37:00,890
24 to 48 hours and the idea is is that
787
00:36:57,110 –> 00:37:03,140
as that email comes in I’m not getting
788
00:37:00,890 –> 00:37:04,520
that sense of oh that new thing just
789
00:37:03,140 –> 00:37:05,720
popped up at the top of the list I
790
00:37:04,520 –> 00:37:08,150
should deal with that first
791
00:37:05,720 –> 00:37:09,830
it’s what’s what’s the stuff that’s
792
00:37:08,150 –> 00:37:11,870
already there that needs to be processed
793
00:37:09,830 –> 00:37:13,880
in the order it was received and to be
794
00:37:11,870 –> 00:37:16,940
quite honest that’s the most equitable
795
00:37:13,880 –> 00:37:17,510
right the the person who came to me
796
00:37:16,940 –> 00:37:19,640
first
797
00:37:17,510 –> 00:37:22,820
should should should get first priority
798
00:37:19,640 –> 00:37:25,580
if it truly is first priority that’s a
799
00:37:22,820 –> 00:37:28,130
choice I get to make but I shouldn’t I
800
00:37:25,580 –> 00:37:30,890
shouldn’t demote something just because
801
00:37:28,130 –> 00:37:35,360
it came in just now right the the
802
00:37:30,890 –> 00:37:37,730
immediacy of it is not its priority how
803
00:37:35,360 –> 00:37:39,970
would it with an emergency though they
804
00:37:37,730 –> 00:37:42,110
should pick up the phone and call me
805
00:37:39,970 –> 00:37:44,960
I’m sorry that’s just not where an
806
00:37:42,110 –> 00:37:46,860
emergency you know communications happen
807
00:37:44,960 –> 00:37:49,170
right
808
00:37:46,860 –> 00:37:50,640
now all right let me jump in here real
809
00:37:49,170 –> 00:37:53,240
quick because there’s something like I
810
00:37:50,640 –> 00:37:57,330
need to make sure is clear when we say
811
00:37:53,240 –> 00:38:01,290
process correct me if I’m wrong we are
812
00:37:57,330 –> 00:38:03,450
not saying that you take the email and
813
00:38:01,290 –> 00:38:05,040
you do everything in it and it’s
814
00:38:03,450 –> 00:38:06,410
completely finished and put away and
815
00:38:05,040 –> 00:38:09,210
never touched again
816
00:38:06,410 –> 00:38:11,220
correct correct okay because we are on
817
00:38:09,210 –> 00:38:12,660
an agreement okay and I think that’s one
818
00:38:11,220 –> 00:38:14,900
of the things that causes some confusion
819
00:38:12,660 –> 00:38:19,380
with people when when they think about
820
00:38:14,900 –> 00:38:21,180
processing emails what is the process I
821
00:38:19,380 –> 00:38:24,780
mean I build ticketing systems like
822
00:38:21,180 –> 00:38:28,290
Frances was talking about and the
823
00:38:24,780 –> 00:38:31,260
process of that first step that capture
824
00:38:28,290 –> 00:38:32,760
step is probably the most important
825
00:38:31,260 –> 00:38:36,030
thing that you have to define for
826
00:38:32,760 –> 00:38:39,570
yourself what is the success state of
827
00:38:36,030 –> 00:38:41,940
something being processed is it done is
828
00:38:39,570 –> 00:38:44,580
it logged in another system is it put
829
00:38:41,940 –> 00:38:46,380
into a folder you got to write those
830
00:38:44,580 –> 00:38:50,040
things down someplace so that you can
831
00:38:46,380 –> 00:38:51,840
follow that consistently because and I
832
00:38:50,040 –> 00:38:53,310
like your idea this the sort and all it
833
00:38:51,840 –> 00:38:57,210
wouldn’t work in my inbox because mine’s
834
00:38:53,310 –> 00:38:59,550
a mess but if you have that process
835
00:38:57,210 –> 00:39:01,980
mechanism and you’ve defined it this is
836
00:38:59,550 –> 00:39:05,430
how I’m going to handle these things as
837
00:39:01,980 –> 00:39:09,000
they come through my process channel my
838
00:39:05,430 –> 00:39:10,680
flow then you can actually make sure
839
00:39:09,000 –> 00:39:13,110
this is going to work but if you don’t
840
00:39:10,680 –> 00:39:15,810
sit down and write that down and and
841
00:39:13,110 –> 00:39:17,850
identify each type of thing that’s going
842
00:39:15,810 –> 00:39:19,130
to be captured and how it’s going to be
843
00:39:17,850 –> 00:39:22,550
processed
844
00:39:19,130 –> 00:39:26,040
this becomes a train wreck in a hurry
845
00:39:22,550 –> 00:39:28,740
yeah one time I was so complex at one
846
00:39:26,040 –> 00:39:31,890
point that I needed to actually map out
847
00:39:28,740 –> 00:39:33,810
a workflow diagram for how email was to
848
00:39:31,890 –> 00:39:36,180
be processed for me you know what was
849
00:39:33,810 –> 00:39:38,280
going to be responded to immediately and
850
00:39:36,180 –> 00:39:41,760
what was going to be deferred to a next
851
00:39:38,280 –> 00:39:43,710
actions list for later processing right
852
00:39:41,760 –> 00:39:45,630
and I and I think everybody has to take
853
00:39:43,710 –> 00:39:46,530
that and take that to heart so I think
854
00:39:45,630 –> 00:39:48,510
that’s a good point
855
00:39:46,530 –> 00:39:51,930
yeah when I when I define things around
856
00:39:48,510 –> 00:39:55,200
the CPR process that I use I think about
857
00:39:51,930 –> 00:39:57,120
each stage in this in this little game
858
00:39:55,200 –> 00:39:58,920
that the email is going to run through
859
00:39:57,120 –> 00:40:00,780
like the Plinko machines on the price is
860
00:39:58,920 –> 00:40:03,840
right it’s going to be captured
861
00:40:00,780 –> 00:40:06,990
what immediately I have to identify what
862
00:40:03,840 –> 00:40:09,690
that thing is that came in is it act is
863
00:40:06,990 –> 00:40:11,400
it a task is it information is it
864
00:40:09,690 –> 00:40:14,190
something needing a response is it a
865
00:40:11,400 –> 00:40:16,860
combination of those things then what’s
866
00:40:14,190 –> 00:40:19,440
the process that has to happen right
867
00:40:16,860 –> 00:40:21,540
away not to fully complete it but just
868
00:40:19,440 –> 00:40:23,790
to get at the heck out of the way of the
869
00:40:21,540 –> 00:40:27,060
priority work that has to be done and
870
00:40:23,790 –> 00:40:29,280
then finally and this is again again one
871
00:40:27,060 –> 00:40:31,860
of those key things how is it going to
872
00:40:29,280 –> 00:40:33,840
be reported back to me how am I going to
873
00:40:31,860 –> 00:40:36,450
be able to go find that again when I
874
00:40:33,840 –> 00:40:37,110
need it I mean when we think about the
875
00:40:36,450 –> 00:40:40,110
Inbox
876
00:40:37,110 –> 00:40:41,550
if you’ve got 2,000 items in your inbox
877
00:40:40,110 –> 00:40:42,300
and they’ve all been read but they’re
878
00:40:41,550 –> 00:40:44,640
still in there
879
00:40:42,300 –> 00:40:47,190
it isn’t any different than if you’ve
880
00:40:44,640 –> 00:40:49,350
got 2,000 items spread across 40
881
00:40:47,190 –> 00:40:51,570
different folders in subfolders under
882
00:40:49,350 –> 00:40:54,780
your inbox if you don’t have a
883
00:40:51,570 –> 00:40:56,370
comprehensive and cohesive way to look
884
00:40:54,780 –> 00:40:58,380
at what’s there and know that you can
885
00:40:56,370 –> 00:41:01,050
get the information back when you need
886
00:40:58,380 –> 00:41:02,940
it you might as well have not processed
887
00:41:01,050 –> 00:41:04,560
it in the first place because all you
888
00:41:02,940 –> 00:41:06,960
did is you moved it to someplace else
889
00:41:04,560 –> 00:41:10,830
you’re shuffling deck chairs on the
890
00:41:06,960 –> 00:41:13,260
Titanic at that point I think art brings
891
00:41:10,830 –> 00:41:15,840
up a good point which is that when you
892
00:41:13,260 –> 00:41:18,480
when you have the all of your messages
893
00:41:15,840 –> 00:41:20,460
in one inbox you’re able to have the
894
00:41:18,480 –> 00:41:22,650
information and the trigger in the same
895
00:41:20,460 –> 00:41:25,170
place the trigger being the remainder or
896
00:41:22,650 –> 00:41:27,540
they tracking mechanism when you like
897
00:41:25,170 –> 00:41:29,940
when you like when you when you start to
898
00:41:27,540 –> 00:41:32,400
share the information out or put it all
899
00:41:29,940 –> 00:41:34,890
into folders or in your desktop or in a
900
00:41:32,400 –> 00:41:37,320
database somewhere you no need to learn
901
00:41:34,890 –> 00:41:39,240
how to manage the trigger separately
902
00:41:37,320 –> 00:41:42,300
from the information because you’re
903
00:41:39,240 –> 00:41:45,240
you’re not using the fact that you have
904
00:41:42,300 –> 00:41:47,250
this line item in your inbox as the
905
00:41:45,240 –> 00:41:52,170
remain I think and I think and I think
906
00:41:47,250 –> 00:41:55,410
people people people are afraid put it
907
00:41:52,170 –> 00:41:57,710
frankly to follow sophisticated systems
908
00:41:55,410 –> 00:42:01,530
where they do zero inbox or inbox zero
909
00:41:57,710 –> 00:42:04,200
because they see that if I hide away
910
00:42:01,530 –> 00:42:07,200
this information away from my inbox I
911
00:42:04,200 –> 00:42:10,010
also lose the trigger in other words
912
00:42:07,200 –> 00:42:13,920
I’ll forget to go back and do the task
913
00:42:10,010 –> 00:42:14,490
so they they they they reject the
914
00:42:13,920 –> 00:42:16,560
rejected
915
00:42:14,490 –> 00:42:18,390
they’re unable to do it or they try and
916
00:42:16,560 –> 00:42:21,359
they fail or they argue that it won’t
917
00:42:18,390 –> 00:42:22,680
work or whatever it is but all it is
918
00:42:21,359 –> 00:42:26,310
really is that they need to train
919
00:42:22,680 –> 00:42:29,520
himself to manage the task separate from
920
00:42:26,310 –> 00:42:32,130
the data and not and and and allow
921
00:42:29,520 –> 00:42:36,270
themselves to separate the two because
922
00:42:32,130 –> 00:42:39,140
as I was implying when you separate the
923
00:42:36,270 –> 00:42:40,609
two it increases your productivity
924
00:42:39,140 –> 00:42:44,220
Tremaine
925
00:42:40,609 –> 00:42:47,580
Tremaine tremendously it goes up by a
926
00:42:44,220 –> 00:42:49,290
factor of ten a hundred a thousand but
927
00:42:47,580 –> 00:42:51,240
it’s a huge huge difference and if you
928
00:42:49,290 –> 00:42:54,210
can have a trusted system for managing
929
00:42:51,240 –> 00:42:56,460
the tasks and a trusted system for
930
00:42:54,210 –> 00:42:58,589
managing the information then you’re
931
00:42:56,460 –> 00:43:01,650
good to go your your may be infinitely
932
00:42:58,589 –> 00:43:05,780
scalable who knows pay attention where
933
00:43:01,650 –> 00:43:05,780
that information is coming and
934
00:43:06,589 –> 00:43:14,010
understand that process that doesn’t
935
00:43:10,140 –> 00:43:17,040
mean do that means receive it mean
936
00:43:14,010 –> 00:43:19,770
understand what is what you need to do
937
00:43:17,040 –> 00:43:21,900
about it and then capture that somewhere
938
00:43:19,770 –> 00:43:24,930
that you are actually going to come back
939
00:43:21,900 –> 00:43:33,030
and do it unfinish it and get it done
940
00:43:24,930 –> 00:43:36,180
okay um but also block time to do that
941
00:43:33,030 –> 00:43:39,920
you know one of the problems a lot of
942
00:43:36,180 –> 00:43:42,780
people have it’s not the amount of
943
00:43:39,920 –> 00:43:45,210
inputs they have the amount of input is
944
00:43:42,780 –> 00:43:47,780
not going to change actually it’s going
945
00:43:45,210 –> 00:43:54,089
to be increasing okay
946
00:43:47,780 –> 00:44:00,150
but most people have not built time into
947
00:43:54,089 –> 00:44:02,670
their daily responsibilities to process
948
00:44:00,150 –> 00:44:04,230
that and I understand the time change
949
00:44:02,670 –> 00:44:06,630
and I understand there are days you need
950
00:44:04,230 –> 00:44:10,680
more or less but you need to at least
951
00:44:06,630 –> 00:44:12,990
have a set block time every day to
952
00:44:10,680 –> 00:44:15,119
process those that’s the only way you
953
00:44:12,990 –> 00:44:17,730
are going to get some kind of control
954
00:44:15,119 –> 00:44:22,770
and some hope to get close to zero as
955
00:44:17,730 –> 00:44:25,349
you said do I get to see every day no do
956
00:44:22,770 –> 00:44:30,109
I wish yes but the reality is I have
957
00:44:25,349 –> 00:44:30,109
time every day in my
958
00:44:30,700 –> 00:44:37,820
calendar blocked just to process email
959
00:44:34,369 –> 00:44:41,000
just to process input just to process my
960
00:44:37,820 –> 00:44:44,599
inboxes why because if I don’t make that
961
00:44:41,000 –> 00:44:46,310
time I will never had that is a priority
962
00:44:44,599 –> 00:44:50,420
and will never happen so it will not be
963
00:44:46,310 –> 00:44:52,730
every 48 24 48 hours it will be never so
964
00:44:50,420 –> 00:44:56,119
make sure that you have a time where
965
00:44:52,730 –> 00:44:58,760
that happened so for example I tend to
966
00:44:56,119 –> 00:45:01,330
advise people to take time Friday
967
00:44:58,760 –> 00:45:05,030
afternoon Friday afternoon tend to be a
968
00:45:01,330 –> 00:45:08,150
slow business time for most companies
969
00:45:05,030 –> 00:45:10,070
and most people then block at 3 p.m. to
970
00:45:08,150 –> 00:45:13,520
clean your inbox make it a calendar
971
00:45:10,070 –> 00:45:16,460
event so you remember that you’re going
972
00:45:13,520 –> 00:45:20,119
to do that and sit at 3 p.m. and with
973
00:45:16,460 –> 00:45:23,570
the goal to process to get as close as 0
974
00:45:20,119 –> 00:45:26,180
or at 0 if possible and make it a tree
975
00:45:23,570 –> 00:45:29,000
so that way hey if you are done by 4:00
976
00:45:26,180 –> 00:45:31,160
or 4:30 then now you can celebrate the
977
00:45:29,000 –> 00:45:33,710
other half an hour instead of put it at
978
00:45:31,160 –> 00:45:36,140
4:00 where you are going to be on the
979
00:45:33,710 –> 00:45:37,790
time you’re ready to go home you know in
980
00:45:36,140 –> 00:45:41,420
the middle of that process so buy
981
00:45:37,790 –> 00:45:44,060
yourself enough time to do that if you
982
00:45:41,420 –> 00:45:46,040
are going to do it that way if that
983
00:45:44,060 –> 00:45:49,220
doesn’t work then at least try to find
984
00:45:46,040 –> 00:45:53,510
time every day that you blog on your
985
00:45:49,220 –> 00:45:55,160
calendar to do that and my advice is do
986
00:45:53,510 –> 00:45:57,530
not do it the first thing in the morning
987
00:45:55,160 –> 00:46:00,920
it tend to work much better towards the
988
00:45:57,530 –> 00:46:03,230
end of the day as you are unwinding that
989
00:46:00,920 –> 00:46:05,210
test towards the beginning of the day
990
00:46:03,230 –> 00:46:06,890
and the reason for that is you’re going
991
00:46:05,210 –> 00:46:10,010
to find an emergency and that is going
992
00:46:06,890 –> 00:46:13,910
to throw everything off for me I
993
00:46:10,010 –> 00:46:16,190
actually have four distinct times in my
994
00:46:13,910 –> 00:46:21,290
day that I’ve blocked out for processing
995
00:46:16,190 –> 00:46:24,349
email and the tangent to that is that
996
00:46:21,290 –> 00:46:28,280
right next to that is time to actually
997
00:46:24,349 –> 00:46:32,030
process the task involves my task inbox
998
00:46:28,280 –> 00:46:34,099
for email messages that are not just a
999
00:46:32,030 –> 00:46:35,990
read and reply
1000
00:46:34,099 –> 00:46:39,710
style email message right it needs
1001
00:46:35,990 –> 00:46:41,540
further than just I read it I processed
1002
00:46:39,710 –> 00:46:42,290
it I’ve made a decision or I have the
1003
00:46:41,540 –> 00:46:44,360
information
1004
00:46:42,290 –> 00:46:46,220
at the tip of my tongue to be able to
1005
00:46:44,360 –> 00:46:48,260
then type and respond to that person I
1006
00:46:46,220 –> 00:46:50,330
now need to put that into the task inbox
1007
00:46:48,260 –> 00:46:53,480
because it requires further processing I
1008
00:46:50,330 –> 00:46:55,610
always leave more time to go to my task
1009
00:46:53,480 –> 00:46:57,860
inbox and make sure that’s processed
1010
00:46:55,610 –> 00:47:00,080
because again like I said at the top of
1011
00:46:57,860 –> 00:47:03,010
the show it’s that’s more important to
1012
00:47:00,080 –> 00:47:05,000
me than the email the email is is
1013
00:47:03,010 –> 00:47:07,790
communication it’s like a conversation
1014
00:47:05,000 –> 00:47:10,760
we’re having it’s not it’s not the stuff
1015
00:47:07,790 –> 00:47:13,430
I need to do right and so I need to make
1016
00:47:10,760 –> 00:47:15,710
sure that task inbox is actually that
1017
00:47:13,430 –> 00:47:17,630
one being zeroed out is actually way
1018
00:47:15,710 –> 00:47:20,150
more important to me so I actually pair
1019
00:47:17,630 –> 00:47:23,030
those two together and and so I hope
1020
00:47:20,150 –> 00:47:24,830
that helps folks I thank you gentlemen
1021
00:47:23,030 –> 00:47:26,900
for this conversation this has been a
1022
00:47:24,830 –> 00:47:29,120
really great topic and I think a really
1023
00:47:26,900 –> 00:47:32,300
good show and I think that we’ll have
1024
00:47:29,120 –> 00:47:36,800
more conversations about this concept of
1025
00:47:32,300 –> 00:47:39,770
of working with email in the future so
1026
00:47:36,800 –> 00:47:41,750
with that do you have a question or
1027
00:47:39,770 –> 00:47:43,970
comment about this episode something
1028
00:47:41,750 –> 00:47:46,010
that we discussed in this episode or
1029
00:47:43,970 –> 00:47:48,950
otherwise about personal productivity
1030
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please visit productivity cast dotnet
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forward slash contact and let us know
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you can find this episode’s show notes
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and how to subscribe at productivity
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castanet forward slash 0 to 9 and if you
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could please add a rating or review in
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iTunes to help us grow our personal
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productivity community of listeners
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thank you that brings us to the close of
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productivity cast the weekly show about
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all things productivity here’s to your
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productive life that’s it for this
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productivity cast the weekly show about
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all things productivity with your hosts
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ray Sydney Smith and Augusto pan out
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with Francis Wade and art Galax