When my inbox gets out of control, I select everything below the first page and then just delete it all. The first page gets a bit more detailed treatment as it's usually new enough for the below not to apply.
If it's important, I've either dealt with it and not moved/deleted the email, or it's too late by now. If neither of those is true, the person will email me again and I'll catch it post-cleanup.
To help keep inbox under control over time - I unsubscribe from mailing lists aggressively, I have filters which move mail I want to keep but don't want to read, I don't keep mail which details things recorded elsewhere - eg paypal reciepts, amazon orders, etc. Most importantly, I don't check my mail unless I'm in a position to actually reply to it. Read-but-not-dealt-with mail is a bastard for inbox-clogging. My phone definitely doesn't check my mail unless I specifically ask it to. Rarely can I deal with an email without a keyboard and a proper browser and so on.
Once you deal with (read/reply/whatever) a mail, get it out of your inbox - either delete it or tag it out of the way. If you get a reply, the conversation will re-appear in your inbox automatically, if not, it's dealt with and you don't need it there.
I currently have 12 emails in my inbox. 2 unread - one bill from BT I'm ignoring in the hope it will go away, one semi-spam that's occasionally interesting. The remaining 10 are either ongoing conversations or unresolved issues I need to keep visible (ie, I need to chase them if they don't move by themselves soon.)
My sole diet tip is that hungry isn't something you feel, it's something you hear. Wait until you're audibly hungry before eating and you'll lose weight. Although, having recently seen a friend drop a few kgs a month by giving up all fat, that seems pretty effective too.
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If it's important, I've either dealt with it and not moved/deleted the email, or it's too late by now. If neither of those is true, the person will email me again and I'll catch it post-cleanup.
To help keep inbox under control over time - I unsubscribe from mailing lists aggressively, I have filters which move mail I want to keep but don't want to read, I don't keep mail which details things recorded elsewhere - eg paypal reciepts, amazon orders, etc. Most importantly, I don't check my mail unless I'm in a position to actually reply to it. Read-but-not-dealt-with mail is a bastard for inbox-clogging. My phone definitely doesn't check my mail unless I specifically ask it to. Rarely can I deal with an email without a keyboard and a proper browser and so on.
Once you deal with (read/reply/whatever) a mail, get it out of your inbox - either delete it or tag it out of the way. If you get a reply, the conversation will re-appear in your inbox automatically, if not, it's dealt with and you don't need it there.
I currently have 12 emails in my inbox. 2 unread - one bill from BT I'm ignoring in the hope it will go away, one semi-spam that's occasionally interesting. The remaining 10 are either ongoing conversations or unresolved issues I need to keep visible (ie, I need to chase them if they don't move by themselves soon.)
My sole diet tip is that hungry isn't something you feel, it's something you hear. Wait until you're audibly hungry before eating and you'll lose weight. Although, having recently seen a friend drop a few kgs a month by giving up all fat, that seems pretty effective too.
-mat