InBox Zero - It's Aspirational.

I cringe sometimes when I see InBoxes with thousands of unread emails. Since most lawyers practice law in their inboxes these days, every email carries risk and reward. Careful pruning of the sublime and the ridiculous is required when tasks can be essential or useless. The discipline required to reach InBox Zero is essential to a competent lawyer's life. I do it by dealing with email on a regular basis during the day. I immediately delete ads, spam, and other non essential communications. If an email requires action, and I don't have time or energy to deal with it right away, I have created a folder I call Pending, which I delve into whenever time permits. During a vacation week like this Thanksgiving vacation, the Pending folder can sometimes get large. However, this isn't much different than the old days, when we would accumulate piles of paper correspondence that had to be postponed. Archival stuff, like case or software purchases, etc. I save in Folders named for the case or software. Of course, InBox Zero is an impossible goal, and, like excellence, it is something to be sought after; but, never achieved. So, Ms. Lawyer, get organized and solo on.