8 Inbox zero, step one: unsubscribe

I've been working towards an Inbox Zero practice. But somehow I never could seem to brush aside the need of having the most important of my e-mails staying put in my inbox for at least that duration of time for I might need them.

Now that I think of it, that is just another case of FOMO in a particular fashion. And, like all other information, we'd do just fine without this. One way to handle this without out rightly pushing off those important e-mails into the same archival as other unimportant e-mails (which would prove to be shocking for those suffering from FOMO) is to make a dedicated folder — I call it “Tier A” just because — and push those important e-mails into that folder.

Voila, now you have an empty Inbox and an organised filing system. True, most of your older e-mails may not even be anywhere close to organised. I, myself, have had an e-mail which was unorganised for at least ten years. But it's never too late to start.

An alternate way some view Inbox Zero is to say don't have an unread count. I doubt that serves the purpose; it is superficially organised, but internally rife with messy, unwanted mails strewn about, which is precisely what Inbox Zero tries to fight. Having a filled but read inbox, aiming for a zero unread count and calling it Inbox Zero is a lot like brushing it all under the carpet.