The Five-Action Triage

Every email that arrives gets one of five actions, and no email stays in the inbox after being processed:

• Delete/Archive: No action needed, get it out of sight
• Delegate: Someone else should handle this, forward it now
• Respond: Takes less than two minutes, reply immediately
• Defer: Needs more time, move to an action folder with a due date
• Reference: Useful information, file it in a reference folder

The key is deciding quickly, within 5 to 10 seconds per email. Do not re-read the same message three times across the day. Touch it once, decide, and move on.