How to manage your time and activities remaining focused and being productive.

1. Inbox Zero & Task Mgmt
MT / July 2nd, 2015

2. Inbox Zero & Task Management

3. Inbox Zero & Task Management

4. Inbox Zero & Task Management

5. Inbox Zero & Task Management

6. Inbox Zero & Task Management

8. DELETE (OR ARCHIVE)
 Read all the emails once & at once.
 Ask yourself: “do I need to take any action?”. This can be now (DO) or later (DEFER), provide an
answer (RESPOND) or instruct somebody to do something (DELEGATE).
 If no action is required, move the email from the Inbox to a proper folder (ARCHIVE) or just
DELETE it (if it’s junk or if it’s any irrelevant information or communication which you are sure you
will not need to track back in the future).
 If you received spam or anyway if you receive information in which you are not interested, always
evaluate the opportunity to “solve the issue once & forever” (unsubscribe a newsletter, inform the
sender that you are not interested to receive further updates on such issue, …).
cInbox Zero & Task Management

9. DELEGATE (OR INVOLVE)
 Do you have to instruct one of your subordinate to take care of it? Or do you think it’s proper to
involve one of your colleagues?
 If the answer is yes and if the person to delegate to or to involve is in your organization, don’t
mail him but go-and-see him. Face to face communication is far more effective than emailing.
 Learn when to delegate or when to involve others, but learn also when to act in first person. We
cannot add value just transferring information around our organization. The correct attitude is to
take a problem and to solve it. It’s up to each of us to figure out the hidden path between a
problem and its solution.
cInbox Zero & Task Management

10. RESPOND
 Most of the emails are asking for an answer. Do whatever it takes to be able to provide such
answer.
 Don’t answer in few minutes “I’ll do it”, but answer in few hours “I’ve done it”.
 Don’t leave email without an answer, waiting passively to be reminded. Everybody must always be
aware of what he/she needs to do and it’s your failure and a waste of time when your superior or
your colleague needs to remind you your duties and deadlines.
 When answering to an email keep in copy who was already in copy. While cutting off people
should be generally avoided, more people could be eventually added, but only if you are truly
confident that their addition is adding value to them or to the subject.
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11. DEFER (PLAN)
 When an action is needed but it cannot be concluded right now, the action must be planned.
 To plan the action means first of all to take a note and then to transfer that note into action.
 Take a note in your daily notebook or add an entry in your to-do-list
 If proper, transfer the note in our tracked action lists (the whiteboard or the notice board in
our operations deck)
 If proper, arrange a meeting or a conference call
 When the action is planned, the email can be archived in an “unread” status (highlighted).
cInbox Zero & Task Management

12. TRACKED ACTION LISTS
SPRINT MEETING BOARD CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT BOARD
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13. DO (CLOSE THE LOOP)
Only through a proper
communication
We can implement the
right actions
执行
That will lead us to
achieve the goal
 Added Value, in Everything We DO – it’s only doing that we can add value
cInbox Zero & Task Management

14. TIPS & TRICKS
 Keep yourself updated round the clock. Stay tuned with the outside world by setting your email
on your mobile. Be informed of what’s going on in your company by leaving your work post to
visit our workshop as well as other offices & departments. Sharpen your senses, pay attention to
what happens around you: go-and-see, read & listen carefully, ask & stay focused, take notes.
 When you are checking your email, read all the emails before taking any action: maybe you have
received more than one message related to the same topic, be sure to be updated before acting.
 Use “read/unread” flag on emails to highlight the emails for which you still need to take an
action. Disable immediately the “mark item as read when selection changes” in Outlook (see next
page).
cInbox Zero & Task Management

15. c

16. YOUR DAILY NOTES
AT THE END OF THE DAY,
THE PAGE IS DESTROYED
INPUT
To-do-list
Emails
Visiting our
workshop and
our offices
OUTPUT
Actions,
dispositions
Emails
To-do-list
cInbox Zero & Task Management

17. YOUR TO-DO-LIST
 Your to-do-list is a summary of tasks to be
completed.
 Immediate (daily) tasks are tracked on your
notebook and transfer to the to-do-list only
when they cannot be completed within the
day
 Bring your to-do-list everywhare
cInbox Zero & Task Management

18. WILL SMITH
cInbox Zero & Task Management

19. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME
INBOX ZERO +
NOTEBOOK ZERO +
TO-DO-LIST ZERO =
TASK COMPLETED
Just
Do It