Inbox Zero - what do you think?

"the psychological stress, however minor, of all those nagging things that may potentially require action sitting in your inbox can build up"

 In a recent article entitled Open question: What's the point of inbox zero? the author (who admitted to over 10,000 emails in his inbox) asked for readers to say what they thought about the idea.  We've published a selection below:

 

• I usually try to get down to "inbox 10" every other week or so. I don't care about zero, but I care that the number is small enough that I can see it on one screen and know what is in there

• I think there's some cognitive benefit - not seeing "914 Unread" in bold face upon log in subtracts some inherent dismay

• Inbox zero everyday, and real time if possible

• I don't follow any particular fad, but I do try to keep my inboxes empty -- if I leave a read message in an inbox, it's because the message is critical

• I can say that those few times when it was down to zero I felt as if a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. That, I believe, is ultimately what the concept is for - the psychological stress, however minor, of all those nagging things that may potentially require action sitting in your inbox can build up.

• Inbox zero doesn't mean you read every email but you must act on 

• I strive for not only email zero, but twitter, IM, BBM, Voice Mail, and SMS zero. Not only to have zero waiting, but to have processed each message in some way

• I keep all my mails in the inbox. They form a chronological record of (most) activities I undertake; and when it's time to change to a new e-mail system/account/new PC it's so much easer this way.

• I have multiple filters in place so the only mail that makes it to my inbox is generally fairly important mail

 

We thought this was a great representation of the different ways people handle the volume of incoming email.  It suggests to us that the system used has to be smart enough to handle different personality types and enable each of them not to feel that "dismay" on seeing a large amount of unprocessed work but also to handle the emails coming in an effective and efficient manner.

All of this thinking we've put into Unified Inbox.  You can sign up for release information here.

Do you feel these comments accurately reflect your incoming message experience - or is there another way of looking at it?