This document discusses achieving productivity and inbox zero. It begins by defining inbox zero as having zero unread emails in your inbox. It then discusses how to achieve inbox zero through prioritizing emails and taking action on them within 5 categories: do, defer, delegate, dump, or ignore. The document also discusses how the presenter achieved inbox zero by spending a weekend decluttering emails. It then discusses the differences between feeling busy, being busy, and being productive. The presenter advocates focusing on achieving goals each day rather than just filling time. The document closes by briefly mentioning how SharePoint can enable productivity if used as intended.

1. Towards Inbox Zero:
Being ultraproductive
Jussi Roine, Chief SharePoint Architect
Onsight Helsinki

2. Organizers
#ProductivityDay

3. Jussi Roine
 Architect, trusted advisor, mojito enthusiast
 Microsoft Certified Master: SharePoint 2010
 Microsoft Certified Solutions Master: SharePoint
 Microsoft Certified Trainer
 Certified Scrum Master
 SharePoint User Group Finland Community Lead
jussi@onsight.fi
About.me/jussiroine

4. Training and solutions
for Microsoft
technologies
http://onsight.fi
Best talent in Finland
for all Microsoft
solutions
http://names.fi

5. So, you might wonder why I’ve
gathered you here today..
What’s Inbox Zero? Why should I care?
Achieving Inbox Zero
Feeling busy, being busy or being
productive?
Productivity tools of today
#ProductivityDay

6. ”Lunch was bad”
(actual feedback I’ve received)
Ask me questions - or as Mr. Garrison from South
Park would say:
“remember there are no
stupid questions, just stupid
people”

7. What’s
Inbox
Zero?

8. The Problem
 Email overload is a real issue
 It’s not just email: It’s instant messaging, calendar
invitations, alerts, notifications..
 Part of the problem is the fear of missing out –
and being available 24/7
 Digital detox, Tech Sabbath and other cute
names

9. http://inboxzero.com
Invented by Merlin Mann
Inbox Zero allows you to reclaim
your email
your attention
your life

10. The idea
Inbox Zero is a very simple concept
0 emails in your inbox
That’s it. Thank you.
(You may now go home)

11. How it works
Some messages are more equal than others
Your time is priceless – and very limited
Lose the guilt – you are not the only one fighting with email
overflow
Stop checking on emails constantly
Just do it.

12. How it works
Based on 5 actions My personal approach is only 3:
Do ( Archive)
Defer (Do later)
Delegate ( Archive)
Time will solve -pile

13. But, wait.. No, it’s not that easy!
 Why not? What’s stopping you?
 Some common excuses:
”My Inbox is perfectly fine with 13985 emails..”
”I get so many emails that I’m too busy to sort them out”
”I need to be included in all email communications”
”I’m on so many distribution lists that I simply cannot
control my Inbox”

14. It’s about prioritizing things
 On average Finnish people watch tv for 3 hours
and 3 mins a day
 Source: Finnpanel (2012)
 That’s about 21 hours a week
 There’s 168 hours in a week, or about 115 hours a
week for yourself
 In essence, people spend about 18% of their
wake-up time watching TV...
 I’ll let that sink in :-)

15. Achieving Inbox
Zero

16. My experience with Inbox
Zero
 I’m fairly familiar with productivity techniques
such as Gettings Things Done (GTD), the
Pomodoro Technique and The Action Method
 I felt the problem wasn’t really about managing
tasks, but about information overflow through
email
 I embarked on my voyage towards Inbox Zero in
January, 2013

17. Getting to Inbox Zero
 I’m super-efficient in decluttering my life
 Less stuff is actually more
 It took me one weekend to achieve Inbox
Zero for all of my email inboxes (3)
 It wasn’t really that hard – just add
persistence, some good Argentinian wine
and a mojito, and music, and a mojito.
Add mojitos when necessary.
 It’s a decision and once you get
started, it’s actually fairly easy to stick to

18. Decluttering

19. Findings from Inbox Zero
 Don’t read emails during the weekend – it just effin sucks!
 Actually, don’t work during the weekends
 Switch email to manual sync on your mobile devices
 Close Outlook. Really, just ALT-F4 that attention wh.. seeker
 Email is important but I’ve switched to using plain-old phone
calls and actually seeing people face to face.
 I know, I’m a trendsetter..

20. What now?
 It’s been about 5 months of Inbox Zero for me
 I’m happier than ever!
 I blogged about my experience in January
http://bit.ly/V0Rtbm (in Finnish)
 I came up with 3 short rules for managing your
time with email http://bit.ly/12YhkW2
 Don’t assume, Don’t forward, Don’t argue
 I still haven’t ordered my Inbox Zero Nerd Badges
(hint for a Christmas present for me!)

21. Feeling busy, being
busy, or being
productive?

22. The difference
 Feeling busy is easy – just ”do stuff” – it’s easy to fill a
whole week by being reactive and meta-working
 Being busy often comes from external drivers
 Being productive is about deciding what’s
important and doing that
 In essence, you’ll need to achieve things, and get
stuff done. Daily.

23. My daily routine
 Every morning I write 3 things down I need to
achieve during the day
 When I’ve accomplished those 3 things I can
 Leave work
or
 Continue working on other stuff

24. What about today?

25. My daily routine
 I try to be at the office before 8am and leave the
office 4.30pm the latest – I aim for 100% load
 I don’t do breaks
 I resume working – if I feel like it – at ~8pm
 I used to work during the weekends but not anymore
 I don’t really care how many hours I do since
essentially, I don’t want to be measured by
hours, I want to be measured by what I can
deliver
 I care how much stuff I get done

26. Grand Canyon.. with a helicopter

27. Working remotely

28. Working remotely

29. Rock climbing
(laptop is in
base camp)

30. In the hammock

31. Productivity tools
of today

32. Hey, where’s the SharePoint
angle here?
 Damn, I thought you’d forget that by now!
 But I did promise..
 SharePoint = Productivity, if you choose to use it
like it was designed to be used
 Otherwise, SharePoint is a huge time waster

33. The essentials
 SharePoint 2013 revolves around social –
Newsfeed, Yammer, Follow and Personal Site
 Start simple, grow from there
 Site Mailbox and Work Management are good
but contained and somewhat complex to set up
 Less is more, keep it simple

34. So, what should I do?
 Try Inbox Zero – just skip one evening of television!
 Read – I can heartily recommend..

35. Thank you! And sorry ;-)