Use the ‘Yesterbox’ Method to Stay on Top of Your Inbox

Inbox management, like so much else, is a necessary evil in our day-to-day lives. As such, it’s best handled with the use of a strict system, but those can be tricky to implement and stick to. Also like so much else, finding the right system is time-intensive and adds a new layer of stress onto an already annoying task. Here’s a system that’s simple, doesn’t take a lot of time to start using, and can actually help you get through your unreads without overwhelming you. It’s called “yesterbox.”

What is the yesterbox inbox management system?

This technique—and its funny name—both come from late Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, who described yesterbox as a way of “relieving email guilt.” The concept is simple: Today, you only deal with yesterday’s emails. It's like a slightly stricter version of the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method, and while I don't always love FIFO, I recognize it has a place in a well-rounded productivity approach—and yesterbox is a great example.

Hsieh believed that “inbox zero” is not only an elusive goal, but a nearly impossible one. As soon as you start replying to emails, responses arrive. By its very nature, email is a form of correspondence, which means you’re sending and receiving—and for it to be effective, it has to be ongoing.

The thing is, though, that you don’t know how many emails you’ll get today. The only true, finite number you can count on is the number of emails you got yesterday, so that’s where your focus should be if you want to prevent yourself from getting caught up in the back-and-forth of immediate communication.

How to use yesterbox

Start by picking a time to deal with emails every day. Ideally, this should be in the morning, so nothing too urgent from yesterday slips through the cracks. Try using timeboxing to schedule your day and blocking out a dedicated time—a half an hour or so, depending on the volume of actionable emails you usually receive and how much of your work is actually done through them—for email management every morning. Hsieh was a proponent of dedicating three hours to this task, but he was the CEO of a giant company, so be realistic about how long it will actually take you. Spend some time trying different approaches to time management and to-do list creation, like the 3-3-3 list or 1-3-5 method. Figuring out how long email management should take you, as well as how much of a resource suck it actually is, will take a little effort, but those frameworks help.

Use that time to only look at and respond to emails you got the previous day. Next, filter out the emails from the previous day that will require more effort from you, whether it’s a lengthy response or the inclusion of attachments. You can star them or move them to a folder, but focus first on the ones that require simple responses—or no response at all. You're more or less using the two-touch email management technique here, but specifically scheduling yourself so you're only applying it to yesterday's messages. Go through each before returning to the ones that will take some more serious effort. Once that’s done, don’t look again until the next morning.

This creates a finite to-do list that doesn’t go on all day. By looking at each day’s previous emails systematically, you won’t miss any, either. The only real exception to this rule should be urgent, day-of emails about tasks that are taking place in the moment. If you’re expecting any like that, add the sender to your priority list to make sure you get the notifications and, if possible, ask them to make the subject line something easily identifiable. Resist the urge to look at any emails related to anything else but pressing, immediate issues.

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