Inbox Zero: A Worthwhile Resolution, Or a Waste of Energy?

As you settle into the new year, there's a relatively simple way to create some peace of mind: Organize your email inbox, or even get it down to "inbox zero."

WNYC editor Sean Bowditch says he has a steady routine, wherein he makes sure he has no unread messages before going to bed. His mantra: "Must clear mind, must clear email inbox."

Our colleague Kate Hinds, on the other hand, doesn’t like the idea of inbox zero, full stop. She prefers to archive her emails, and uses folders and flags to keep a kind of living time capsule of messages.

"For me, inbox zero is like having an empty refrigerator," she says. "Like, you’re going to eat all your food and clear everything out and stare at an empty fridge? No, it’s a buffet from which you constantly want to graze."

Alec Hamilton, who produces Morning Edition at WNYC, could graze for days. She has 9,528 unread emails in her Gmail. In Outlook, it's up to 72,895.

But for Hamilton, getting down to zero wouldn't be worth the effort.

"It would take me like three weeks of doing nothing but deleting emails to get it down to zero," she says. "I’d have to just start from scratch, change my name, get a new email address."

Salazar spoke with WNYC's Richard Hake, a true master of the tidy inbox.