Ask the readers: How often do you process inboxes?

Lodewijkvdb Says:

May 14th, 2007, 5:36 am

It’s different for my work environment and my home environment. At work I process my e-mail inbox 3 times a day (I wrote a post about that two days ago actually). And my physical inbox once. I carry around a hardcover notebook for my notes, ideas and thoughts. I process that one as if it were an inbox at the end of the day.

At home I check everything once a day after work. But there the “burden” is not quite as big as at work.

elizabethb Says:

May 14th, 2007, 7:07 am

Hmmm. Depends on whether I am behaving or not. When I am behaving myself then I will check inboxes 3 times a day at work and once a day (for my home e-mail) when I get home.

If I’m not behaving myself then inbox checking becomes a bad habit to avoid doing other work, in which case every half an hour or more frequently!

Leo Says:

May 14th, 2007, 7:29 am

I love reading this stuff. I think I’m a junkie for reading about how others handle the stuff I’m interested in. Thanks for sharing, guys.

Today is that Day Says:

May 14th, 2007, 8:21 am

After listening to an audio interview with the author of ‘The 4-Hour Workweek’ I have started only checking email 3 times per day. It has been SO liberating as compared to just leaving my email client open all day long, and my productivity has gone up tremendously.

- Aaron

Andrew Flusche Says:

May 14th, 2007, 8:35 am

I know that I’m an inbox-junkie. I don’t really get voicemail or physical things in an inbox, since I’m not working full-time yet. But I check email constantly. I’m horrible.

BUT, this thread is helping to inspire me. Maybe I can get down to just a few times per day.

Matt Says:

May 14th, 2007, 8:50 am

Being a graduate student, time is of the essence (much like the rest of the working world) and I used to to check my inbox WAY TO MUCH! I would probably check it more than 5 time s a day - and I really would not get any meaningful emails. To boot, I would then surf for a while and before I knew it an hour or so would pass. Now I check it about three times during the day. Once thoroughly before I go to work, once breiefly around mid-day/lunch time and once in the late evening.

I leave my laptop at home most days so I have to use other computers to access my gmail account - this really helps from the distracting temptation of surfing.

As for my physical in box…usually once a day. But I usually take care of the emptying it over the weekend.

Wade Says:

May 14th, 2007, 9:07 am

Honestly - email gets checked just twice a day (first arrival in the office and after lunch) - it’s too distracting otherwise. Of course, I might be working on an email action item throughout the day, but that’s different.

This is my philosophy about communicating electronically (stolen from a mentor) . . . If you need me to respond in a day, email me. If you need me to respond within the hour, IM me. If you need me to respond withing the minute, call me.

It’s really quite astounding the amount of work you get done, when you manage your email system like that.

mikebdot Says:

May 14th, 2007, 9:56 am

At work, my client is open all day. I check it between doing tasks. Sometimes it’s a waste of time, but sometimes it adds value. It’s a random occurrence scenario in my opinion; I would rather have the potential to add value. Saving a few hours might mean I get testing done a whole week sooner if I see an email from the tester that a test stall is available, so if I get the note sooner the chances I get the stall increase. Sometimes a test can take three weeks, so sometimes it pays. I wish people would use the phone more!

At home I check whenever I “feel” like it. At lunch and just after work usually, then sometimes before bed.

Peter Says:

May 14th, 2007, 10:04 am

My work is probably different than most of your readers. I live in an interrupt-driven world. My primary functions are:
1. To act as an advocate/escalation point for all of my company’s customers in the region, and
B. To take email requests for assistance from our customers worldwide.

As such, I am really required to be available almost instantaneously by email during work hours, and by telephone 24×7.

So unfortunately, I check my email constantly. But I do try to process and disposition each piece almost immediately so that I don’t have a full inbox.

rob Says:

May 14th, 2007, 12:35 pm

At work I check email twice - first time after I have been in for an hour and worked on my Most Important Tasks (thanks Leo), secondly after I have finished for the day, as part of my reviewing /planning time - this is the time I also process my physical inbox and prepare for the next days work

Greg Says:

May 14th, 2007, 13:01 pm

I get about 50 work emails per day which need addressed in one form or another. I check my email in the morning after doing/planning my MITs (most important tasks.) I then check 2-3 times more per day in between meetings or during planned office time, rarely spending more then 10 minutes clearing out the ‘ol inbox

I set up a folder, “@daily pending” that I move any email that I can’t do in 2 minutes or less. I will then process this folder during scheduled office time each day, ensuring it is empty before I leave.

Tamara Says:

May 14th, 2007, 13:12 pm

I use my e-Inbox as my to-do list. Non-task items are read and filed/deleted. Tasks are flagged by colour (green or blue for my 2 businesses, yellow for personal, red for urgent, orange for volunteer activities) and “checked” when completed.

I start each day in my e-Inbox as a tool for creating my daily tasks & MITs. I’m new to the GTD philosophy but this has been a personal behaviour for a long time.

As a web-based business owner/operator I rely on constant communications - I *do* leave my email client open all day but I’ve been adopting (slowly) some new habits and will close it for blocks of time 1-2 hours so I can focus on a task with increased productivity.

I finish each day with a review of what’s left so I don’t struggle to remember things as I’m falling asleep. I’ll even send myself emails from time to time so I don’t have to flip between Inbox and Task List!

ZHereford Says:

May 14th, 2007, 14:01 pm

Having worked for a major communications company I was in the habit of checking my e-mail several times a day. It was how I mainly corresponded with customers so it’s a habit that’s hard to break.

If I don’t check my e-mails regularly I feel out of the loop and not connected (to what I’m not sure).
I guess I should be aware that it doesn’t become an addiction, although I don’t if I’d recognize it as one if it happened.

David Hollingworth Says:

May 14th, 2007, 15:39 pm

I used to be a slave to my email inbox. I used to have notifications turned on and I’d check each and every arrival. That was before I discovered GTD.

Now I’m a three times a day man; first thing in the morning, about midday and lastly about 16:00. I will also check my home email about 22:00.

This has freed me up from the incessantly batting emails back and forth.

Erika Says:

May 14th, 2007, 17:09 pm

I am a software developer, so I have a fair number of short periods of downtime while I’m working (compiling). I usually end up checking my email during those, but I have also been trying to use those times for eye and hand breaks too.

Leo Says:

May 14th, 2007, 18:52 pm

I love these responses! Thanks everyone!

I think it’s clear that many of you (with a couple of notable exceptions) are email junkies. You are not alone. This is something I’m working on right now. If anyone has tips on combating email addiction, please let me know — I’m compiling my own.

Stephen Says:

May 14th, 2007, 18:58 pm

I check my personal g-mail 3-4 times per day, but my work email is my connection to possible customers - so that gets checked every 15 minutes or so. That way I can respond ASAP, as they are usually looking for quotes on the product we sell.

My in-box at home gets emptied on Wednesdays, when I do the Weekly Review, but I check the Tickler file every morning first thing.

Ben Says:

May 14th, 2007, 18:59 pm

I check my in-box at 10, 2 and 4 — the old Dr. Pepper times. In Lotus notes I have folders labeled “Action”, “Waiting” and “Reading” plus folders with the names of projects I’m working on. Trying to teach people to put more info into e-mail titles like “Here’s the Keystone data for April”

Adam Snider Says:

May 14th, 2007, 20:44 pm

At work, I have my email program set to check for new mail every fifteen minutes. This might seem excessive but it isn’t, for two reasons. The first reason is that, frankly, I don’t get much email in a day (which is odd, since I work at a very tech-oriented company).

However, even if I did receive enough email that there would actually be something new in my inbox every 15 minutes, I could handle that, because my work tends to be somewhat fragmented.

I will spend fifteen minutes researching about the newest Google news on a blog, and then spend fifteen minutes updating one of our webpages so that it is now optimized for this new Google rule.

My workday tends to be broken down into a lot of “mini projects,” rather than one or two large projects.

At home, I tend to process my email more casually. If I notice I have a new message, I might check immediately, or I might wait an hour, it really depends on what I’m doing.

As for a physical inbox, believe it or not, I don’t have one.

Christian Tietze Says:

May 15th, 2007, 8:22 am

Since I’m not all that famous or important, I don’t get a lot of email. Two times a day I have to check mails, but I switch to my Gmail tab far more often than neccessary.
I just decided to close the GMail tab because in the end it’s not all that important to me. Better have Google Reader, Meebo, Backpack etc. protected and at hand than GMail which just wastes space for most of the time.

My physical inbox is checked every two days mostly. If I put my weekly newspaper in it which means I’d have to skim the articles to throw those who aren’t interesting away, it can take a few days longer as well. Concerning my newspaper, I was never really able to apply my usual GTD behaviour. I’d put it on my desk to have the planned action done as soon as possible, but eventually it will just sit there for days… Without any newspaper or magazine in my inbox, I process it far more frequently. Probably every day, wehenever I feel like doing some routine. Processing my inbox actually is really fun for I like organizing and assigning ideas, projects and next-actions :)

Christian Tietze Says:

May 15th, 2007, 8:50 am

Forgot to check “notify”… Isn’t it possible to add a comment feed for every post so I could have subscribed to that quickly? Live bookmarks are useful for just that :)

McShort Says:

May 15th, 2007, 22:39 pm

I’m a totaly email slave at work! My Outlook is open all the time and I have reminders popping up every time an email comes in - even when it’s general staff email and doesn’t apply to me. Otherwise I check my personal email maybe once every one-two days which suits just fine. I guess I should really learn to switch off those reminders huh!! Break free from the bondage or whatever they say…

Rolf Says:

May 15th, 2007, 23:42 pm

Leo
Thanks for posing the question and to your readers for their responses.

I run my action lists in Lotus Notes so the proggie is open by default. As part of my pre flight checklist in the morning in the morning I switch notes to the 1 day Calendar view and show time slots. It gives me a reminder of the MIT’s for the day also where there is white space..sometimes.

I also open ToDo’s and InBox so I can Ctrl + Tab between any window so I just really need to avoid the temptation to check the email box and stay focussed on the @NA’s and WO’s

But as usual reading this blog has given me more food for thought.

Tara Says:

May 17th, 2007, 22:35 pm

Hi Leo,

I process my inbox to empty every day. The way I do it is by keeping folders tagged for follow up by priority (e.g., high, medium, low), along with a folder for items to review later (i.e., newsletters, etc.). I don’t check email unless I have time to process it all and am ruthlessly efficient when I do. Everything that deserves an immediate reply gets one, messages get deleted or archived promptly, and items that require later follow up don’t slip off into oblivion.

I also minimize hovering over the inbox by scheduling email as a calendar item and budgeting an hour or so to process it all. I even use a timer to keep myself honest. If I’ve got to check or send email in the middle of other tasks, I allot myself five minutes for my email fix and when the timer goes off, I go back to work.

I can testify that my system works. I wrote a 344-page heavily researched book in three and a half months this way!

Thanks for the post and also for the link on the Ultimate Productivity meme.

peace be with you,
Tara

Myron Says:

November 10th, 2007, 4:37 am

Cool!