How To Make The Most Out Of Your Inbox
Having a landing spot for your thoughts and ideas is a really great tool to capture incoming information and tasks before they get lost or forgotten. Whether you use an insert at the front of your planner or utilize space on your desk or memo boards, having a dedicated inbox can boost your production output and improve how you manage your time. Below are three of my favorite ways to make the most out of your inbox.
1. Reduce Brain Clutter
If you are a multitasker who struggles to obtain balance when managing multiple tasks, then adding an inbox to your planner routine might be the solution you need. Sometimes we have more thoughts than we have the mental capacity for and unfortunately, that’s when important items can fall through the cracks. When you have a specific spot to jot down your to-dos and ideas, you free up space so you can better prioritize and focus on the task at hand. Multitasking is an effective skill to have but only if you can assign the right priority level to each focal area. If you have a list of tasks to complete, you need to be able to accurately rank them from most important to least. That way, you won’t spend 90% of your time on an item of low importance while only leaving a small percentage of effort for your most important task. When you find the number of to-dos exceeds a certain number and you start to feel overwhelmed, that is a good sign to write down the excess so you don’t forget it. Then you’re able to focus on that one essential task and you don’t have to disrupt your thought process to address new ideas not associated with your main task.
2. Dedicated Brain Dump
We all have those moments where our body is one place, and our mind is another. If you are especially unlucky, those moments may happen at work or (in my case), the middle of a strategy meeting. Sometimes, our brains take an unscheduled vacation, but luckily for us - we really don’t need a full tank 24/7. If you are in a situation where you need to record quick info without a lot of detail then an inbox can be the perfect place for a brain dump. You can write down whatever you hear, or any thoughts around the topic of conversation and then revisit it later when your mind is back home. This is one of the best ways to capture information quickly while creating fresh space in your mind to process new information. Even if it’s only a word or two, more often than not, that’s all it takes to refresh your memory and make the necessary association to your “need-to-know” task.
Grid paper or spreads with tables work really well for this purpose. I like to keep several sheets in the front of my planner that’s sole purpose is to serve as a place to scribble things down. Once a week or so, I’ll review my inbox, prioritize what’s there, and transfer them to a dedicated section in my main agenda. That way I don’t weigh down my schedule with unnecessary tasks.
3. Create Order & Prevent Procrastination
One of my primary uses for my inbox is organizing my incoming tasks before I plan for the upcoming week. This works really well for items that have tentative dates or deadlines. Housing them in an inbox before moving them to your planner spread can help keep your sections neat and reduces the amount of corrections or changes you need to make down the road. This comes in handy when you’re on the go or if you receive a high volume of information at one time - say if you’re planning a large event or meeting. If you manage a large teams of people or dealing with complex projects, you can use your inbox as a sorting tool for information so your content is already structured prior to moving it to your project or event section.
Keeping your inbox towards the front of your agenda will allow it to serve as a central point for receiving and tracking any communications so you are able to respond to emails and messages quickly and make any adjustments you need to.
How do you use your inbox? Shoot me a message and let me know!