The fact that I’m a lawyer got translated into meaning that I get more email each day than is possible to read and act on. And I know I’m not alone, am I? Between legitimate emails from clients and colleagues, mailing lists, fax-to-emails, voice-mail-to-emails, and the inevitable spam, it’s an avalanche that every lawyer must contend with. Or do we?
I’ve got enough to do, and so do you. With short timeframes and approaching deadlines, it’s tempting to just throw it all in the trash folder, hit empty, and be done with it for the day.
As lovely as this may sound, you know you just can’t do it. It’s inevitable that the first time you throw caution to the wind, you’ll miss something that actually was important. Before you accept your life sentence to the third realm of inbox hell, try the Inbox Zero method. If you’ve never heard of this technique before, you’re not alone. Why do you think email hell is so lousy with lawyers? Aside from the fact that lots of people think all lawyers belong in hell, that is.
Before we begin, let’s make one thing clear – this is not some run-of-the-mill filtering system that may or may not screen out critical communications along with the junk. This method promises to help you take your email from completely overstuffed to clean as a whistle – and keep it that way – in no time. Impossible, you say? Not according to Merlin Mann, the brains behind Inbox Zero.
Now, you’re thinking this is even a worse idea than some new high-tech filter. With a name like Merlin, Inbox Zero must be all smoke and mirrors – big promises with no substance to back them up. Well, to set you straight, Merlin says upfront that some of his tips will be useful to you, and some, not so much. In other words, he’ll suggest ways that you can develop your own customized strategy that works perfectly for you.
I know, I know – that sounds like a lot of work. You’d much rather have someone say, simply install this little program, and your email life will be perfect. It will read your mind, spoon feed you everything that you need to know, and never make a mistake. Unfortunately, no one’s really gotten that far with artificial intelligence just yet.
Before you decide that you don’t have time to for this, think for a minute. What lawyer couldn’t use just a few more billable hours a month, some more time to be productive and get work done? If you could invest a little time upfront to save hours each day for the rest of your life, wouldn’t it be well spent? Instead of opening and deleting for hours on end, you could spend that time on more important things – you know, the ones that actually put a little cash in your bank account.
Let’s take a closer look at what Inbox Zero is all about. While we’d all love to always have an absolutely clean inbox, is that really realistic? Think about it – no emails could mean no interest in your services and no customers.
Inbox Zero is a cool name for a seemingly unattainable goal and a very real way to prioritize and manage your incoming messages so that you control your email, instead of allowing it to control you.
Instead of selling you a software package, Inbox Zero teaches you how to develop the right attitude, skill sets, and toolbox to become the boss of email world. Will it give you complete control over the ignorant masses who continue to stuff crap into your inbox minute by minute? Of course not, that would be an impossible feat. Instead Inbox Zero teaches you how to take control of your own email destiny.
That all having been said, we’re going to dig into Inbox Zero For Lawyers over the course of the next little bit of time. We’ll peel back the layers of this onion (no crying, please) and talk about how to adapt it to your practice. Stay tuned, folks – it’s going to be a fun ride.
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