Grant at DownloadSquad thinks that Gmail is the best thing since sliced bread. He even states that it may have in fact saved his life! (Or at least 10 hours per month). I would have to agree… I switched from Yahoo! Mail Beta to Gmail mainly because of the conversation-style threading, and have never looked back. But it never hurts to hear GTD-infused tips on how to keep your inbox squeaky clean. Here’s my favorite one:
2. If you’ve already responded to it, it shouldn’t be in your inbox.
When you respond to something, archive it. It will reappear when/if there is a reply. This can really help clear your head-space in your inbox. By which I mean; You’ll find that the more diligent you are, and the “cleaner” your inbox becomes, the quicker you’ll be able to decide what to do with each individual email you receive. Having less in your inbox to weed through pays you mental dividends, you’ll notice this almost immediately.
This rule really comes down to a very simple and almost all encompassing directive : If it’s been responded to or didn’t need a response, it should be tagged and archived.
Aside from giving the other 4 rules, the rest of the post deals with how to achieve inbox nirvana. While the rules are geared towards Gmail users, they are universal and could be used with any email program.
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