Inbox Processing
The Inbox temporarily holds unorganized items. Processing does not mean filling every field. It means understanding each item and giving it an appropriate home or state.
What Stays in the Inbox
The current app determines Inbox membership from the data structure. A task belongs to the Inbox only when it and every ancestor have:
- No project
- No plan date or due date
- No Next Action, Waiting For, or Someday / Maybe action list
- No tag marked Exclude from Inbox
Ordinary tags do not remove a task from the Inbox. A defer date also does not change Inbox membership, although an availability filter can hide the task until the date arrives.
A subtask can be in the Inbox if its entire ancestor chain also satisfies the rule.
Fast Capture
Capture has two goals: record the content and make it understandable later. Do not let classification interrupt the moment of capture.
- Prefer actionable titles such as “Email building management about parking.”
- If the item is still vague, keep the raw wording and clarify it in Processing Mode.
@tag,#project, and natural-language dates can organize during entry. Adding a project or date means the task will no longer belong to the Inbox.
Processing Mode
Process Inbox presents a snapshot one item at a time. For each item, decide whether to:
- Delete it: it has no value.
- Do it now: complete a very short action immediately.
- Keep it as a task: rewrite it as a clear next action.
- Convert it to a project: the outcome needs multiple steps.
- Set Waiting For: progress depends on someone or something else.
- Set Someday / Maybe: you are not committing now.
- Skip it: you cannot decide yet.
When saving, you can add a project, action list, dates, tags, flag, duration, notes, reminders, and attachments.
iPhone and iPad
Processing uses paged cards for focused decisions. Before closing, wait for any in-progress attachment import to finish.
Mac
Mac includes the full Inbox Processing flow with desktop-specific keyboard and card interactions.
Keep Processed Items in Inbox
The Keep Processed in Inbox setting changes only the current processing session:
- Off: processed items disappear from the queue immediately.
- On: they remain temporarily until you refresh or clear the session result.
It does not change the actual Inbox membership rule.
Use a Tag to Mark an Item Processed
Some reference items need no project, date, or action list, but you still want them treated as organized. Create a tag such as Reference and enable Exclude from Inbox on that tag.
This is intentionally different from ordinary context tags such as Phone or Office, which can still appear on unprocessed input.
A Sustainable Rhythm
- Capture at any time; organize later.
- Process at least once a day, prioritizing items that affect today or other people.
- Inbox Zero is not a mechanical requirement. What matters is knowing why the remaining items are unresolved.
- Check the Inbox again during the weekly review.
Common Questions
I added a tag. Why is the task still in the Inbox?
Ordinary tags do not affect membership. Enable Exclude from Inbox for that tag, or add a project, plan/due date, or action list.
I added a defer date. Why did the count not change?
Defer controls availability, not Inbox membership. The structural count can still include the task.
Why did a task return after I removed its project or date?
The Inbox is dynamic. If the task again satisfies the rule, it returns.
Did processing delete my task?
Usually it only moved out of the Inbox. Find it in its project, action list, Schedule, tag view, or global search.