A Day Is a Day

Published on October 11, 2020 (↻ February 5, 2024), filed under (RSS feed for all categories).

Almost without exception, I conclude every day with Inbox 0 as well as Slack 0.

Why? I just like ending each day with this fleeting sense of accomplishment, and starting the next one with a clean slate (of fresh new mail and messages).

How? I work with a customized system that I acquired many years ago from Getting Things Done. The main axes for dealing with the action items of each message are either to:

(There’s more but I sometimes bloat my writings by trying to be “complete.”)

The three points together allow me to reliably get work done, and finish each day with this—fleeting sense of accomplishment.

That’s it! That’s all I wanted to share—is it useful, or obvious? What does your own system hinge on? Let me know in the comments—if I can keep them open long enough (I have a terrible spam problem contributing to rarely enabling them anymore). Cheers!

There, amid the scowls and jeers of the Islamites, he consecrates a newly purchased pagan sword to Christian service.

Figure: Work organization and prioritization in very past times. (You are right: If Val was to post this on his Insta today, contemporary Holy People would have a field day.) (Copyright King Features Syndicate, Inc., distr. Bulls.)

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About Me

Jens Oliver Meiert, on November 9, 2024.

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m a frontend engineering leader and tech author/publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead for companies like Google and as an engineering manager for companies like Miro, I’m a contributor to several web standards, and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development (and engineering management), but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and views. (Please be critical, interpret charitably, and give feedback.)

Comments (Closed)

  1. On October 11, 2020, 18:52 CEST, Markus said:

    Also Inbox 0!

  2. On October 12, 2020, 10:18 CEST, Walter Ferder said:

    I’m not sure what I still remember from GTD. I liked it back in the day but it also felt hyped. I don’t care how many mails I have at end of day.

  3. On October 14, 2020, 21:01 CEST, Trevor Roberts said:

    Spam is incoming :grimace:

    I love inbox zero!