Email Freedom
It’s been written on in many places, but an empty inbox is great for lowering the daily stress of things that need attention. It’s easy in GMail to just archive things, especially with conversations and their powerful search capabilities. But even in my work email, I’ve completely emptied my inbox.
My general policy has been that, if it’s in my inbox, it means I have to do something about it. If no response is needed, no action necessary, it gets filed or deleted. More thought is necessary in Mail than GMail, but it’s still not too bad if I stay on top of things.
If I open my email and there’s a message there, I know something’s up. I leave the order confirmations from online orders until the package arrives, I leave the emails that need a response, and I leave the emails with information I want to check out. Everything else goes somewhere else, to be pulled out later if the need should arise.