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# Flow
- URL: https://makoism.com/flow-23a/
- Published: 2020-10-05T00:04:00.000Z
- Updated: 2020-10-05T00:04:00.000Z
- Description: Be water, my friend
- Author: Steve Makofsky
- Tags: makoism, #newsletter-makoism, #substack

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/8f/618f2076-e6a0-40dc-8037-06080661dee7/content/images/public/images/6ea06593-15cf-4b89-b0b9-a02220513395_1400x933.jpeg)

One of the things I pride myself on is that I try to respond to messages as quickly as possible. While this has sometime’s gotten me into trouble (sometimes it’s best to let things stew), I am do get asked how this is doable given the constant stream of noise that most of us deal with every day.

The answer is easy: **My inbox is empty.**

I’ve been able to keep this philosophy pretty consistent over 10 + years now (despite the recent ‘[inbox zero is wrong](https://www.wired.com/story/everything-you-thought-you-knew-about-inbox-zero-is-wrong/)’), and I follow the general rule that I would not let email overwhelm me — **Email is not my task list**.

The trick, while difficult at times, is to keep your Inbox *below 5 items before the end of each day*. Trust me friends, once you get there, it’s **amazing** how liberating this can be.

The workflow is pretty straight-forward, for **every** new mail:

- If I don’t need it and can delete it, I **delete** it immediately.
- If it’s something that I can **answer immediately**, I do. Then the email goes into the ‘year’ folder or **deleted**.
- If it’s something that I **need for information later**, it quickly goes into the ‘year’ folder. If the email was a link to an article, a video, a podcast or whatever else that I can consume later, it quickly goes into [Pocket](https://app.getpocket.com/). Then the email is **deleted**.
- If it’s something that I need to **think** about or take **action** on, it quickly goes over to [Things](https://culturedcode.com/things/) as a to-do item, with tags, a project and a due date. Then the email goes into the ‘year’ folder or **deleted**.

The process is simple and quick and my inbox **never** becomes a dumping ground for tasks.