I occasionally take the bus from NYC to a town in the Finger Lakes, and this is so true. I have been through so many towns that check off every one of these boxes.

I use a system I read about ages ago. The idea is that you have a bunch of different reasons for keeping your mail in your inbox, and you should have separate boxes for each of those reasons rather than mixing them all together.

So I have a box for “Quick Reply” (will need an answer today), “Slow Reply” (will need an answer, but it can wait) “To Read” (I need to read it or its attachments but don’t need to reply at all), “Reminders” (things like job numbers and due dates), and “Save” (any other reason it needs to be kept).

Then I empty out my inbox whenever I have a chance (multiple times a day), and use those folders as I need them. Works pretty well.