Why Inbox Zero

I keep my inboxes at inbox zero. The point is not really the email. It is that inbox zero is an anchor habit for my other daily habits.

One of the most important first principles of habits is that habits create habits. Let me give you an example. Our family travels a lot. One of the first things we do when we move into a new rental is decide where the keys hang. Why? Because if everyone hangs the keys in the same spot every single time they walk in the door, no one ever needs to waste a moment looking for them.

The first few times, you have to think about it. After a couple of repetitions, hanging the keys in that one spot becomes automatic. Walking in the door is the trigger. Hanging up the keys is what follows.

For me, checking my inbox serves a similar purpose. It is something I already do every day, so it gives me a reliable place to start. Clearing it is a small task I can finish, and finishing it is my cue to move on to other daily habits. Habits create habits.

But that only works if clearing the inbox is easy enough that I actually do it.

I make sure my keyboard shortcuts are set up so I can archive or snooze an email with one keystroke. That allows me to clear the daily cache of emails in a couple of minutes. And if I slip and miss a day, I can still clear the buildup relatively quickly. Missing once does not have to turn into giving up.

This lines up with the research from Stanford professor Dr. B. J. Fogg. The Fogg Behavior Model describes three factors that need to come together for a behavior to happen: motivation, ability, and a trigger.

With inbox zero, my motivation is having an anchor for the rest of my daily habits. The task stays within my ability because I keep it small: sorting my inbox takes only a few keystrokes. And checking the inbox gives me the trigger to begin.

Admittedly, you could have an LLM sort your inbox too. I just like to keep a human in the loop for my email priority decisions. I also like that doing it myself gives me a small daily practice to build around.

But I am not here to tell you I am a saint. I have recently fallen off my daily heavy lifting habit. Keeping my inbox clear has not magically kept every other habit intact.

What it gives me is a place to start again. I already have one small habit that I repeat every day. I can use that anchor to rebuild the next one.

That is my ‘why’ for inbox zero.