[abendy]

I've actually increased the amount of inboxes (especially email). I label into category/topic (eg finance) and sometimes sub-topic (eg taxes) inboxes based on sender or subject/message content. It keeps my main inbox clean and easy to go through. Alert type emails (calendar invites, password resets etc.) stay in the main inbox.

I keep my work and tech inboxes open throughout the day. Things like news, finance/markets, etc. I check every few days. Others I check whenever they're relevant (taxes, cooking, entertainment etc.)

It took a lot of work to set up but it works well for me.

For message apps I just rely on the notifications.