Why You Need to Escape the Mind Trap of Inbox Zero

It’s Monday morning. You check your email and say to yourself…holy sh*t! That’s a lot of emails. Overwhelmed, you skim through spam, delete…answer a few, flag…rinse and repeat until your inbox is empty.

Ah, now it’s time to start the day with a clean slate. Or is it? ?

An empty inbox is nice to look at, because when your email is out of sight, it’s out of mind. But what if you accidentally deleted a long thread that contained an important document? Or what if the time you spent clearing out mountains of spam could’ve been put to use elsewhere like working on that big design project you keep pushing off?

For years, it’s been the ultimate goal to achieve inbox zero—treating each and every email like an item on your to-do list, hoping that by the end of the day, there won’t be any more to read or take action on. But it’s time to turn this concept upside down. Inbox zero is actually a productivity trap and it’s time you get comfortable with (and maybe even fall back in love) with email.

Why Inbox Zero is Overrated

Let’s be real — how often have you actually had zero emails in your inbox? Probably less than a handful. Email is still the most popular form of communication so there’s no doubt you receive a lot of emails every day. But the goal inbox zero shouldn’t revolve around triaging and clearing your email inbox every day.

Instead of thinking of emails as more tasks on your to-do list, think of it as the place where the real work happens. At Spike, we view emails as powerful conversations with the most important people in your life and at work.

Our goal is to save you time and energy when it comes to your email inbox so you no longer think of this necessary way to get your job done with disdain and resentment.

Spike transforms your email into a clean and efficient communication and productivity app. By organizing your emails by contact, you can focus on collaboration and being more efficient, instead of deciding if you need to flag, file, or delete an email.

Getting the actual work done, rather than fixating on the end goal of a clear inbox, can actually enjoy the shortest path to ‘done’.

First Things First — Prioritize Your Most Important Emails

Oh look, another Twitter notification…and Uber receipt… and that industry newsletter you swear you’ll read this weekend.

The traditional design of email is full of clutter. It’s hard to sift through what’s important and what’s not when your inbox is constantly flooded. Your most important emails should be front and center–so sorting through junk emails becomes a thing of the past.

Priority Inbox sorts your less important emails such as newsletters, promotional offers, and random invites into another inbox, called ‘Other’ so you can browse through those messages (or not!) when you have more time and patience.

When emails start crashing into your inbox like waves against the Atlantic coastline, Spike automatically scans your email intelligently so you can actually ignore distractions and notifications (aka a real productivity booster).

With Spike, you save around 30% of the time you spend on email. So by minimizing these notifications, you can focus on accomplishing meaningful work throughout your day.

Still want to receive that newsletter? Spike will put it into its own special folder for you–separate from your work emails.

Take Priority Inbox for a spin and see exactly how it can keep your inbox in check. Your most important emails will stay front and center, and you’ll never drown in unnecessary messages again.

Say goodbye to the old way of thinking about your email inbox and make some room for improved productivity and organization. Your friends, your boss, your mom–even YOU, will thank you later.