Your Outlook Inbox Is a Mess — Here's How to Fix It Fast

About this video

Kevin shares the three-folder Outlook system he used at Microsoft to reach inbox zero. He creates three color-coded folders, Action Items for work that needs his response, Waiting On for requests pending replies from others, and Read Later for newsletters and reference material, and reorders the folder list so the inbox and these folders sit at the top, alongside Archive and Deleted Items. He then triages a sample inbox live: quick replies under two minutes are answered immediately and archived with the E key, longer tasks are acknowledged and moved to Action Items, work belonging to someone else is delegated and archived, and no-action mail is archived. He shows pinning or flagging to mark today’s priorities, moving items to Waiting On once the ball is in someone else’s court, and checking that folder daily. Finally he automates recurring mail with rules that move newsletters to Read Later, with conditions, actions, and exceptions.

Key takeaways

• Use three folders: Action Items, Waiting On, and Read Later, plus Archive
• Triage every message out of the inbox; the inbox is not a to-do list
• Answer anything under two minutes immediately, then archive it
• Move requests to Waiting On once you are waiting on someone else
• Automate recurring mail with rules, including exceptions for important senders

Episode details: published April 10, 2025 · 12:49 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Kevin Stratvert’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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