Progress report #2 (progress #1 on Aug 14) for Inbox Zero experiment: Success!
(Reminder that the Inbox Zero game comes from Merlin Mann of 43 Folders. My hat’s off to him for this one!)

It’s been about 10 weeks of a daily empty inbox. The options have become progressively easier to fly through: “delete, delegate, respond, defer, or do”. They’ve really become almost second nature. (The discipline with which I cruise through the emails has oozed to the physical inbox too–which now gets completely emptied at least once a week.)

Another benefit I’ve gained from the Inbox Zero discipline is better mastery of the quick response email. Often three lines or less to acknowledge the senders communication and add my part to it. So the only things ending up in the Take Action folder really do represent activities that will take more than several minutes and the sender gets a quick response.

I’ve noticed that having my schedule right at my fingertips has been invaluable for the quick response (both my email and schedule are in Entourage, the Mac version of Outlook). Whether to consult for an upcoming event I may want to attend or to add/change an appointment, I flip back and forth regularly.

Re: challenges–I’m still having a challenge in the department of doing the Take Action items–which is a different issue altogether. At least I know where they all are =)

More bene’s: I feel so free! Like a bird soaring at outrageous heights–like Icarus, without having to worry about the wax melting from my wings. WOW! Makes me think of days in of yore in the last century… before email was a form of communication. I shall not be slave to my email inbox! Hear me roar! Ok. Time to go to yoga.