Even if you don’t get anything else from it, one of the biggest benefits of learning GTD is that you can finally learn to keep your e-mail inbox empty. I love it!
I struggled for years to keep track of mails. I hated to have to go back through my inbox, wondering if I had anything important in there from yesteryear which I desperately needed to keep. Now I never, ever have to worry about that. My inbox is always clean.
What’s the secret? Basic Getting Things Done processing.
First, set up a few folders. All you need is a “waiting for” folder, and a “reference” folder. The “reference” folder has many subfolders, all named by context or theme.
When a message arrives in your inbox, you have a few choices:
- Is the message worth keeping? If no, delete it straight away. (80% of my mails disappear like this.)
- Do I have to do something about the message?
- If yes, and I can respond in 2 minutes or less, I do it. Then I delete the original message. If my response needs a response from the person I’m replying to, I put a copy of my sent message in my “waiting for” folder. (I can review that later, as there are only ever a few messages in there anyhow.)
- If I can delegate, I do it. Forward the message, and if I need a response, add a copy of the message to my “waiting for” folder.
- If I need to do something about it later, I either
- drag the message straight to my calendar, usually as an all-day event, or
- add a quick next action to my task list. (Usually I never need to do this with mails.)
- If the message needs no action, but may possibly be interesting at a later time, I simply drag it to one of my reference folders. If I need another reference folder, I quickly add one, then drag the message into it.
Your inbox will stay empty, and if you ever need to find an old message, it’s in the reference folders.
Simple! 
