Merlin Mann, of 43folders.com fame, has a thread on his site about a particularly nasty productivity drain, the e-mail inbox, and things we can do to plug that hole. If you “live in your inbox,” then this topic is for you. In a nutshell, the idea is to always have an empty inbox — to delete, archive, defer, or otherwise “process” your e-mail immediately upon opening it. I’m grossly oversimplifying here, of course. Are you thinking, “that’s crazy talk?” That maintaining an empty inbox is yet more work, not less? Well, then, perhaps this is especially something you should look into. Google found the idea so intriguing that they invited Merlin to speak about it at one of their in-house “TechTalks.” The video of that TechTalk is available here:

“Inbox Zero” (a Google TechTalk)

Video Link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=973149761529535925

Thread Link: http://www.inboxzero.com is a direct link to the 43 Folders thread.

By the way, if you are wondering where the name, “43 Folders,” comes from, the concept of 43 folders is simply this: to set up a tickler file using 43 manilla folders, one for every month of the year, plus one for every day of the month (thus, 12 + 31 = 43). Each morning, today’s folder get emptied and then placed behind the folder for next month, to be used again. Whenever a piece of paper represents an action that is to be deferred (for example, a bill that’s not due right away, or the invitation and driving directions for a party in 3 weeks), it’s filed in the folder for the appropriate time — a specific day if within the next 31 days, or just in the folder for the appropriate month if further out.

Obviously, you can read all about that on 43folders.com as well, but that concept is completely independent of the Inbox Zero concept. You don’t have to buy into one in order to benefit from the other. Both of these concepts are extensions of ideas voiced by David Allen in his book, “Getting Things Done,” which is commonly referred to as simply GTD.

The Inbox Zero TechTalk video stands pretty much alone. No GTD background is required — at least not until you get to the Q&A session at the end, when there are a couple of GTD terms floated, but they aren’t crucial to understanding. In fact, from now on, I’m going to recommend this video as a starting point for anyone who’s never heard of GTD.

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