Last week I returned home from a two-week vacation and one of the inevitable chores of that first week back was sorting through a more-than-usually full inbox.

I had traveled with a laptop so I could respond to any genuinely time-sensitive messages – and deleted any junk that showed up when I did check my mail. So what needed sorting and follow-up when I resumed work last week was the legitimate but non-urgent stuff.

But before bringing myself back to Inbox Zero, I took advantage of the chance to see patterns that are more obvious when looking at two week’s worth of messages than when processing email on a daily basis. Such moments are a great opportunity to reevaluate what ends up in my inbox in the first place – making that daily processing (and the return from my next vacation) that much easier.

Here’s roughly what made up my more-than-usually full inbox:

• 30% newsletter subscriptions and announcements from service providers
• 25% messages from clients and colleagues
• 14% communications regarding a specific project
• 14% forum and blog comment notifications
• 12% notices of payments made and received
• 4% learning materials to download and/or file
• 1% messages from family/friends

All of it needed action of some kind, but less than 10% of what was in my inbox actually needed a reply – and not very elaborate responses at that; mostly simple answers to straightforward questions and little bits of coordination.

[ Note to Worried-Hurried Mind Hamster who thinks unplugged vacations are impossible: This is proof we aren't as much in demand as you think we are. ]

The reason I tallied up messages by percentages is because I was curious if the Pareto Principle was at work here.

The Pareto Principle – or the 80/20 Rule – can be expressed a number of ways:

• 80% of the outputs result from 20% of the inputs
• 80% of the consequences result from 20% of the effort and time
• 80% of profits come from 20% of the products or customers
• and so on…

The 80/20 Rule is useful because it helps you see where your actions are paying off and where you aren’t getting a return on your investment of time and energy. With that information, you can refocus your actions to be more effective.

With the 80/20 Rule in mind as I reviewed the contents of my inbox, I asked myself two questions:

• Which 20% of communications is the greatest drain on my work? Or: which 20% is causing 80% of my problems?

• Which 20% of communications directly contribute the most to the growth and profitability of my business? Or: which 80% isn’t doing anything for me but crowding my inbox?

Basically, I was looking to reduce or eliminate both the most superfluous and the most distracting stuff, leaving only the useful and energizing behind. Not only does this prevent inbox overwhelm, it allows me to focus my time and energy where it’s genuinely needed in my business.

When I stepped back and took an honest look, the greatest drain turned out to be the project specific communications. It’s a promising endeavor, so that surprised me. I’m not yet sure what needs to change, but I owe it to my business to resolve rather than ignore something that is proving to be a significant distraction from the development of more direct sources of income.

As for the rest – the non-essentials that are just crowding my inbox and creating busywork – I see opportunities to refine my systems.

• better clarification of how things work, so clients don’t have to ask certain questions in the first place
• better bookkeeping that automates what I don’t need to be doing manually
• better filtering of newsletters and announcements (with a reminder to Self to unsubscribe rather than delete what I don’t want to receive)
• better blocks against spam (most easily achieved by deleting a couple old email addresses that I never use to send anything).

None of these refinements are difficult. Most are the work of a few moments. The key is to follow through on making them. Though they aren’t high priority, they interfere with what is – and that should place them near the top of my to-do list.

Now that I think about it, it’s the perfect work for a Bite the Candy session…

• • • • •

Take a look at your inbox right now:

Which 20% of the messages you find there is causing 80% of your problems?

Which 20% of communications directly contribute the most to the growth and profitability of your business? Which 80% isn’t doing anything but overwhelming you?

What would happen in your business if you eliminated the sources of the most problematic 20%?

How would your relationship with your inbox change if you reduced that superfluous 80%?

How would you feel about what you were left with?

• • • • •

Related posts:

1. A Shared Location Does Not Mean A Shared Approach
2. Lessons Learned #13 – Working in the Zone