Why I Stopped Chasing Inbox Zero (and What I Do Instead)

For a long time, I thought Inbox Zero was the goal.

If my inbox was empty, I felt clear. In control. Productive. Like I had actually finished something.

But eventually I noticed the pattern. The cleaner my inbox got, the busier my days felt. More replying. More sorting. More “just one more thing.” I wasn’t doing better work. I was just better at moving emails around.

Inbox Zero wasn’t clarity. It was activity disguised as progress.

So I stopped chasing it.

Here’s what I do instead.

1. I Treat My Inbox Like Triage, Not a Task List

Your inbox is everyone else assigning you work.

If I treat every email like a task, I’m letting other people decide my priorities. That’s not leadership. That’s reaction.

Now I read emails like a triage nurse. Is this urgent. Is it actually mine. Does it matter right now. If the answer is no, it waits. “Quick asks” are usually just distractions wearing polite clothes.

2. I Snooze Aggressively and Without Guilt

Snooze isn’t avoidance. It’s timing.

Friday afternoon emails about “circling back” do not deserve Monday morning energy. They get parked until later in the week, when I can think clearly and respond intentionally.

I’m not procrastinating. I’m deciding when something deserves attention.

3. My Real Work Lives Outside My Inbox

Each week I keep a short list. Three to five things that actually move the organization forward. Decisions. Strategy. Hard conversations. Work that creates leverage.

That list lives in Notion, or sometimes on a piece of paper next to my desk. I look at it before I open email.

Email is reactive. My focus list is not.

4. I Automate the Obvious

Anything repeatable gets a system.

Newsletters go somewhere else. Common requests get templates. Calendar links eliminate endless back-and-forth. AI helps draft responses and surface the emails that actually need my brain.

Inbox management is a systems problem, not a discipline problem. Tools matter.

5. I Let Some Things Drop on Purpose

This part took the longest to accept.

I do not respond to everything. I miss emails. Some threads die. And that’s okay.

Most dropped balls do not break. They bounce. And the ones that disappear entirely usually weren’t important in the first place.

Being a CEO, a founder, a parent means choosing. Inbox Zero was never the job. Impact is.

Final Thought

A full inbox isn’t a failure. It’s a side effect of leading, building, and being involved in real work.

My job isn’t to empty my inbox.

It’s to make decisions, create momentum, and move the work forward.

So no, I don’t chase Inbox Zero anymore.

I chase what actually matters.