Ask the readers: How often do you process inboxes?

Australian reader Rolf writes:

I’d be interested in knowing how often people go through the checking email / phone messages / in tray cycle as opposed to working their contextual next action lists.

Its a matter of balance but balance is different for people in different occupations. Obviously productivity comes from working the Next Actions but you need to clear the inputs to keep the whole system functioning.

I think this is a great question! As for myself, I haven’t worked out a satisfactory system yet. I’ve been working on checking email less, and ensuring that my other inboxes are cleared once a day.

But I’d love to hear from you guys. So, please let us know in the comments:

How often do you process your email inbox, physical inbox, voicemail and other such inboxes? What’s your system?

5 Simple, Effective GTD Tools

Every Monday is Productivity & Organization Day at Zen Habits. Recently I posted my new twist on the excellent GTD system, Zen To Done (ZTD): The Ultimate Simple Productivity System. This is the fifth in a series of posts exploring each of the 10 Habits.

Are you a fan of GTD? What’s your trusted system? GTD, and my twist on it, ZTD, recommend that you keep your task in a series of lists based on different contexts. And while many popular GTD tools (Kinkless, stikkit, Outlook, Remember the Milk, etc.) make things a bit complicated, the truth is that all you need are lists.

Many followers of GTD get caught up in fiddling with the tools, with creating complicated systems, changing tools and systems every week or two, instead of actually getting things done. But ZTD asks you to use the simplest tools possible, and then forget about them. ZTD is about the doing, not the tools.

ZTD Habit 3: Plan

Recently I posted my new twist on the excellent GTD system, Zen To Done (ZTD): The Ultimate Simple Productivity System. This is the third in a series of posts exploring each of the 10 Habits.

3 plan

Habit: set MITs for week, day.

Each week, list the Big Rocks that you want to accomplish, and schedule them first. Each day, create a list of 1-3 MITs (basically your Big Rocks for the day) and be sure to accomplish them. Do your MITs early in the day to get them out of the way and to ensure that they get done.

This is one of the simplest of the ZTD habits, but also one of the most important. Why? Because it gives purpose to your day and week. Instead of just trying to crank out a bunch of tasks on your to-do list, you are trying to do the most important ones. Sure, you’ll also do other tasks on your list, but you’re identifying the ones that you really want to accomplish — the ones where you can look back on your day and feel proud of accomplishing something. Often we work hard and do a lot, but when we look back on our day, we haven’t really accomplished anything.

ZTD Habit 2: Process

Recently I posted my new twist on the excellent GTD system, Zen To Done (ZTD): The Ultimate Simple Productivity System. This is the second in a series of posts exploring each of the 10 Habits.

2 process.

Habit: make quick decisions on things in your inbox, do not put them off.

Letting stuff pile up is procrastinating on making decisions. If you process your inboxes, making quick decisions and putting things where they belong, things don’t pile up. Process your inboxes at least once a day, and more frequently if needed.

First, minimize your inboxes. Every place you have to go to check your messages or to read your incoming information is an inbox, and the more you have, the harder it is to manage everything. Cut the number of inboxes you have down to the smallest number possible for you to still function in the ways you need to.

Minimal ZTD: The Simplest System Possible

Recently I posted my new twist on the excellent GTD system, Zen To Done (ZTD): The Ultimate Simple Productivity System. However, reader Mark Siegal said that the system seems to complex. So I now present the minimalist version of ZTD — a way to be productive without all the fuss.