Introduction

As affiliate marketers why is inbox zero crucial? We face a never-ending stream of emails from other marketers, newsletters we signed up for, or people from whom we have bought products.

This can be a double-edged problem, as it can cost us time and money if we are not careful.

Firstly it is very distracting and time consuming to deal with. 

Multi-tasking is a myth, and continually swapping our focus (such as constantly checking emails) interrupts our focus and disrupts concentration.

An often-quoted study by the University of California-Irvine suggests that it can take 20 minutes or more to regain focus after an interruption.

Secondly, it exposes us to bigger and better shiny objects to buy, which can be expensive and counterproductive to our marketing.

The grass is greener, FOMO (fear of missing out) and promises of more accessible work free methods to untold riches will inevitably induce you to buy something!

First Step

Unsubscribe from all unnecessary email lists you are on. Be ruthless, remember they consider you the potential customer.

NB: Some unscrupulous marketers either don't provide a way to unsubscribe or just start emailing you from a different account.

For these, almost all email programs allow you to set rules to either block domains and individual email addresses or automatically delete them.

Second Step

Only check your email at set times and turn off all notifications to avoid getting distracted. If this is not possible, set notifications only for the essential people, you may need to respond to.

Try and avoid sealing with email when you are most productive. For example, I'm the most effective first thing in the morning, so I work on my priority tasks first. 

I tend to only check my email accounts 3 times a day. After the first hour or two from starting, around lunchtime and just before I finish for the day.

Our goal is to try and achieve inbox zero. No emails in our inbox we haven't dealt with according to our process.

If we follow a process, we can be confident we deal with every email in our inbox. No need to re-read emails to see if we have uncompleted tasks to do.

Folders are your friend, so set up a structure within your email program that makes sense for you. When you have dealt with an email, move it to the appropriate folder.

Third Step

Now we have minimized the number of emails we are receiving and have a folder structure set up. 

The method I use for achieving inbox zero is called the 4 Ds.

• Do
• Delegate
• Decide
• Delete

NB: This method is strictly for dealing with the contents of your inbox, and it doesn't necessarily mean there is nothing left to do.

Do

If the email can be dealt with or answered in less than 5 minutes, do it straight away, then remove it from your inbox filed in the appropriate folder.

Delegate

If you have a VA or someone else in your organization that can deal with the email, delegate it straight away and file it to be checked on later to see if it was handled. Filed in a folder for follow-ups.

Decide

If this email is more than a 5-minute fix, decide when to deal with it and add it to your calendar, task or to-do list. File in the appropriate folder.

Delete

If there are no actions to be taken or it is just a junk email, delete immediately and move on to the next.

It All leads to This – Inbox Zero

It is hugely satisfying to see an empty inbox and feel secure in the knowledge you have dealt with all your emails and do not need to keep re-reading them to check.

Since you have structured a system of folders, you will always find the email again.

NB: Don't stress if you have unread messages. The goal is to be productive, not just have an empty inbox.