I’ve often felt there are two types of people in the world: those who have hundreds or even thousands of unread emails, and those who break out in hives just thinking about that first group. In recording the latest episode of Secrets of the Most Productive People, I learned that my cohost Anisa falls into that first group, while I’m squarely in the second.
I have long believed a clean inbox is critical in order to get things done and make sure nothing gets missed. But after talking to organizational expert and productivity coach Janine Sarna-Jones, I learned that it’s less about how many emails you have than how you manage them. That means your strategies for combing through your inbox every day, but it also means how you manage your time and set expectations for the ways you want other people to email you to begin with.
In the end, it turns out that the number of emails isn’t the most important thing–it’s what you do with them.
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