That inbox approach is my approach as well. I've tried many times to shift to an actual TODO list - with the idea that using my inbox as a TODO list means extra

That inbox approach is my approach as well. I've tried many times to shift to an actual TODO list - with the idea that using my inbox as a TODO list means extra overhead - every time I open my email I'm having to re-process my TODO list. But it never works for me. I keep coming back to Inbox having three priorities: - unread (must be triaged immediately - scanned then archived, starred, or left as normal read) - starred - read Although it's really two, because starred/read don't really have much difference in priority for me. Most of the time I sit at somewhere between 0-5 emails. If I'm having difficulties or overwhelmed, that number may grow substantially temporarily.