Tip: Clear Your Inbox for Landing

Coworkers often ask me how I keep my email inbox so white--that is, absent of email messages. My answer is that I treat my inbox as a landing strip.

As soon as that airplane has landed, I move it to the appropriate gate: FileCabinet or FollowUp. Otherwise, the inbox becomes an explosive pile of scrap metal that has to be stepped over and sorted through.

Then, only after the airplane is safely parked at the gate do I allow passengers to disembark (via the reply exit).