Let’s have a quick rerun of the five processing steps on a real inbox, taking into account the golden rules. Here is my own mailbox with new emails. Let’s deal with them one at a time, starting from the top (first golden rule).

In this first email, I am asked to meet next Tuesday. If I agree to attend, the answer to ‘Do I have to act?’ is yes, it cannot be done in two minutes (I have to wait until next Tuesday), so I commit this task to my Calendar. This can be done quickly by (a) replying with a meeting request using the small button next to Forward or (b) adding the mail to only my own Calendar. This is done by dragging the email onto the Calendar button at the bottom left. Both methods will bring up a new meeting dialogue with a copy of the text of the email in the notes part of the meeting.

After I have committed the task to my Calendar I can move the email to the ‘Filed Items’ folder using Ctrl+Shift+V, 1, Enter. The email is moved and I am already on the next email ready to make my next decision.

The next email is an information request about my company. Something I would like to do soon but cannot do in two minutes (second golden rule). Now I have to prioritise if this should be done within a week or later. In this case, I choose to put it in my ‘Do This Week’ folder and attend to it later today or tomorrow (Ctrl+Shift+V, 2, Enter). And automatically I jump to the next email in my inbox.

A lot of emails originate from systems that we work with or interact with online. This is a confirmation of an online order. And as I have already spent my money but am waiting for delivery I will move this email to ‘Waiting for Others’. To be checked at the end of the week if all went well.