Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea, and modest expectations

As a freelancer I am always looking for new ways to improve my work habits and productivity. Why? Since I am the one person in my life who has the power over how productive I am with the time I have in each day, the more productive and better I am able to work, the more I will be able to provide for myself. This is amplified by the fact that how I use my time is directly connected to how I pay my bills each month (or whether I can at all). Having discipline is essential in this area.

You have no control over the world’s demands on your time and attention, yet you are the single person who has any choice over how you deal with it.
- Merlin Mann, 43 Folders

I have known about the Inbox Zero concepts put out by Merlin Mann of 43 Folders for some time now, and have even gone to the lengths of encouraging other people to use them despite the fact that I do not (that’s the marketer in me i guess). Until today.

Previous, to this I had been using an technique with my email I picked up from creativityist.com. There were two criteria that I used to determine if an email needed to be in my inbox: if I knew I was needing to reply to it - or - if it was associated with a current project I was working on. If it didn’t meet either of those criteria, I archived it. In effect, it was a poor implementation of a few GTD concepts I had picked up on the way and was proving to work ok since my inbox always hovered around 20-30 emails. About once a week I would go through and clean it up a bit and get rid of anything that may have slipped through the cracks.

However, I have decided that I am going to begin employing the practices of the Inbox Zero concept. I just did the hard work of completely emptying out my inbox and as Mann suggests, it took less than 20 minutes. Granted, my inbox wasn’t too full in the first place, but hopefully by doing this, it will help me be more productive with my days. I have already noticed that the constant impulse to go and check my inbox is gone. Along with this I am going to try and have an understanding and protocol for Inbox Zero and some basic GTD stuff by the time I come back form visiting my family over Thanksgiving.

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