Inbox Zero Is a Red Herring: A Founder Time Management Trap

Alexis Goodreau
May 13
3 min read

Man in a suit walking out of an office with teal walls. Laptop and smartphone on desk, screen shows abstract design indicating a report. Clean, modern setting.

I used to support CEOs who hit inbox zero every day.

They were responsive. Disciplined. “On top of it.”

But behind the scenes?

They were buried. Swamped in approvals. Drowning in unnecessary CCs. Making high-stakes decisions while toggling between 14 tabs and trying to get “caught up.”

Harvard’s research backs it up: CEOs spend about 24% of their time managing email. And after every email check it takes about 25 minutes to get fully back into focus. Multiply that across a day and you’ve burned hours in a cycle that feels productive but rarely is.

Inbox zero might look like control. But more often, it’s a coping mechanism. It makes you feel like you’re doing something when the rest of your workload feels like a shapeless mess. But the dopamine hit doesn’t last. You delete something you probably shouldn’t. You miss something that actually matters. You open it all back up again twenty minutes later and start the cycle again.

The Allure of Inbox Zero

Email offers a quick win. Founders are dealing with stress, ambiguity, and way too many decisions. Clearing the inbox gives a sense of relief. It feels like something you can solve.

But it’s also performative.

Harvard noted that CEOs are endlessly looped in on FYI threads and often reply just to avoid seeming rude. That’s not strategic communication. That’s email guilt. And it’s costing you more than just time.

I’ve seen it up close for years. I’ve built systems behind the scenes for founders who were laser-focused on their inbox but totally out of touch with what was actually moving (or not) in their businesses.

It’s Not Just the Inbox. It’s the Inputs.

The average person spends 209 minutes per day checking work email. That’s over three hours. Just reacting. And that’s not counting meetings, texts, client messages, internal dashboards, voice notes, task updates, or that one tab you keep open “just in case.”

The real problem isn’t a messy inbox. It’s too many channels and no filtering strategy.

And for founders, the stakes are higher. You’re not just wasting time - you’re training your team to believe that everything needs to be answered, seen, or approved right now.

Harvard even warns that late-night or weekend email responses from leadership can create unrealistic norms, quietly fueling a culture of burnout.

The Other Side: Inbox Avoidance

Not every founder is obsessed with inbox zero. I’ve worked with plenty who land on the other extreme.

They’re so overwhelmed by what’s waiting in their inbox that they just stop opening it.

I’ve seen 19,000 unread emails and entire businesses run through side channels because the inbox became emotionally radioactive.

It’s not laziness. It’s survival mode.

But the results are the same: missed communication, fractured trust, and no visibility into what’s actually happening.

Inbox zero and inbox avoidance? Same root issue. Just different flavors of chaos.

What Founder Time Management Actually Looks Like

It’s not about reading faster. Or sorting harder. Or writing better subject lines. It’s about replacing volume with clarity.

Start here:

Create internal communication norms. Document what belongs where, what channels you use, and when people are expected to respond. A simple “Communication Best Practices” doc saves hours of misfires.
Centralize your team conversations in one platform. Slack is my go-to. One place. Clear channels. No pings at midnight. You’re reducing your mental friction by reducing the messages.
Protect your availability. Turn off email notifications. I know it's scary, but I promise it will be okay. Set boundaries around when and how you’ll check messages.
Let your systems surface what matters. Don’t wait for someone to forward you an update. Build workflows that pull it in automatically.

And if you have an EA? Let them filter your inputs. They’re not just “handling the inbox.” They’re protecting your focus. Later you can even automate parts of that system so your EA can step out of triage and into bigger, more strategic projects.

Try This Instead

Here’s what I recommend instead of trying to win your inbox:

Choose one or two set times a day to check email then leave it alone
Build a Slack-based “command center” as the base of your internal communication
Use project management tools (Asana, ClickUp, Notion, etc.) to drive your weekly focus
Set up a weekly digest (manually or via automation) that shows key tasks completed, movement across projects, and team updates

That’s founder time management - not inbox management.

You’re not here to win email. You’re here to build something.

And you can’t do that if your brain is stuck in triage.

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