Why the OHIO principle is the most efficient way to achieve inbox zero, via @HarvardBiz

Extreme Productivity author Robert Pozen explains his three cardinal rules of managing emails, and they do make much sense:

  1.  First, don’t look at it every minute; look at it every hour or two.
  2. Second, try to discipline yourself to read only the subject matter in order to discard 50% to 80% of your emails right away. We all get so much spam.
  3. Third, practice what I call “OHIO” — Only Handle It Once, immediately deciding what to do with each email. Concentrate on the emails that are important and answer them right away. And don’t put them into some sort of storage system, because by the time you’re ready to finally tackle them, you’ll spend another half an hour trying to find them.