Inbox Zero

Process the inbox to empty each week - decide, do not hoard.

Key Concept

• Process the inbox to empty regularly - each item decided, not hoarded.
• Level 1: Open your inbox often, decide what to do with each message, and leave nothing sitting there to rot.
• Level 2: Work through every message on a schedule - decide the next step or archive it, like clearing dishes after each meal instead of letting them pile up.
• Level 3: An undeclared inbox becomes a todo graveyard - every message needs a next action or archive, or dread returns every Monday.
• Level 4: Touch each message once per processing pass: decide, delegate, defer with a date, or delete - then leave empty.
• Level 5: The Trusted Inbox is the capture lane; Getting Things Done processing keeps inbox zero from becoming performative tidying.
• Zero is not vanity - it is proof the capture system still works when Monday does not start with dread.
• Empty the capture pipe on schedule, or ideas retreat back into my head.
• Each item gets decide, delete, or defer - not another week in the pile.
• If I will not empty the inbox, I stop trusting it and hoard in my head instead.

Examples

• Friday I triaged the team inbox to zero - Monday practice started from decisions made, not dread about who forgot what.
• Sunday night we emptied the kitchen catch-all tray - each slip got a decision so school week did not start with mystery piles.

Note Relationships