I’m a fan of Merlin Mann of 43 Folders. I happened upon his Inbox Zero presentaion that he gave to a group of Googlers during a Tech Talk. It rocked my world. I’ve been a huge advocate of the inbox zero philosophy ever since. I’ve shared the video and slide deck with several coworkers, friends, and family. (and now with you) I was amazed and surprised to see that I’ve inspired a bit of I.Z. spirit in others and it’s even been a little bit of a competion to see who’s inbox can have the fewest messagaes at the end of any day. (it’s not always zero, but the closer the better)
Inbox Zero recently showed up in a very unexpected place — my annual performacne review at work. Turns out, I’ve become better organized and further, I’ve been an evangelist and spread the word, developing improved orginazation in others. Who knew? So, I may owe some small portion to my pay increase this year to Merlin. Maybe I should buy him some baby diapers or something to show my appreciation? In the mean time, I’ll continue to spread the word and encourage others to gain control of their own inboxes and save their sanity. Perhaps this will be thanks enough.
– steve