- in Productivity
Become an Email Master: The Action vs. Flow Technique
In the modern working world, emails wash over us like information tidal waves. It’s exhausting. I struggled to keep from being overwhelmed by email until a colleague taught me the simple path to email Nirvana–the Action vs Flow Technique. You, too, can become an email master with this simple approach. Here’s how it works.
The Path to Email Nirvana
Create two email folders, Action and Flow. With every email that comes in, you have four potential immediate actions to take:
- Respond upon first opening the email, then delete
- Simply delete
- Move the email to Action
- Move the email to Flow
Action emails are those you need to take action on. If you can’t address the email as it came in immediately, you move it to Action–and you clear out our action inbox throughout the day as much as possible.
Flow emails are items you don’t have to take action on, don’t want to delete, and need to retain for informational purposes. The Flow folder is your only additional folder besides Action. One great thing about the Flow folder is you don’t have to strain your brain wondering where you filed stuff. Every email informational email you have filed away is located in Flow.
Get Ready for Empty Inbox Bliss….
To be honest, I have created a couple of extra dedicated folders for long-term subjects where I need to store the information for years. But, generally, it’s just action and flow all day long. Once I implemented this, I had an empty inbox throughout most of my day–despite receiving hundreds of emails a day during my time in the work-a-day world.
Try it. Let me know what you think.
(P.S. Here’s another email trick that will save you time and save your mind for better things.)
