Gmails top Hacks to keep your box clean

… Despite my undying love for Gmail, there are still a lot of people who aren’t won over by sheer enthusiasm alone, and still others who just aren’t taking full advantage of the features and functions they’ve got at their fingertips in Gmail. Either way, the only thing a Gmail naysayer needs is a better understanding of everything you can do with Gmail.

Today I’ve got a rundown of the methods and add-ons I use to make Gmail more powerful. By the time you’re done with this article you’ll be a bona fide Gmail power user, too…

Gmail box Cleanup Hack

Prework

Set up Google Calendar, and make sure you turn on email alerts with a pointer back to Gmail.
In Gmail, make a label called “xxdel” or something to say that you MIGHT eventually delete this mail.
Make a “reference” label for things that you need or want to keep in your inbox indefinitely.

Workflow

Set up every-other or every-three day appointments in Google Calendar to prune your mailbox.
Signup pages for websites and such- archive right away.
Email requiring follow-up but not immediately- use the star.
Label emails you’re not sure you need for any reason with your “xxdel” label.
While in those emails, pick the oldest one, and from that mail message, select Add Event Details (right under the subject line to the far right of the form), and set it up as “Review xxdel” with a date of 30 days from now.
Set up a “Review ‘reference’” meeting, too, for the same event.
Delete anything that doesn’t follow those criteria. Wait a week, and see if there’s any impact. If not, keep doing that.

Via lifehack.org

Five simple rules for keeping an empty inbox

If you don’t need to read it now, it shouldn’t be in your inbox.
If you’ve already responded to it, it shouldn’t be in your inbox.
If it comes from a known source (some person, retailer or mailing list that sends you mail more often than once every few months) it should be labeled automatically.
No one needs to look at their own inbox more than once an hour (and for many, once every 2-3 hours).
To borrow from the cult of GTD, re-factor constantly and mercilessly.

Via lifehack.org