If that system works for you, great! For a lot of people it doesn't, hence all the praise for Inbox Zero.
You're allowed to have your own system for managing e-mail, just like you can put your pencils wherever you want on your desk. Or hey, let's be crazy! You can even have no pencils on your desk!
I think this piece is for people for whom e-mail is a chore and for whom it is common practice to stare blankly at their inbox thinking "Oh, I should just reply...." and then spend an hour to write "OK" in the reply. If you're good at e-mail already then awesome.
You're allowed to have your own system for managing e-mail, just like you can put your pencils wherever you want on your desk. Or hey, let's be crazy! You can even have no pencils on your desk!
I think this piece is for people for whom e-mail is a chore and for whom it is common practice to stare blankly at their inbox thinking "Oh, I should just reply...." and then spend an hour to write "OK" in the reply. If you're good at e-mail already then awesome.