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Recap: Becoming an Email Ninja
Merlin Mann | Feb 6 2006
I’ll tell you a secret. There are a few topics here at 43 Folders that always seem to attract a curious crowd. Getting Things Done, Quicksilver, and anything having to do with procrastination always seem to resonate with people. Those are all evergreen. But one of the issues that consistently draws the most folks here is anything that helps them deal with email. Ah, yes, email. The remarkable tool that was meant to simplify our lives and liberate vast deposits of time and attention now has every person I know on the run. There’s too freaking much of it and most of us lack the training and skills to do much but react emotionally and basically let it push us around like that mean kid in the middle school cafeteria. Here are a few of my favorite (and the site’s most popular) posts on that heated topic of email — how to better deal with email as a recipient, and how to improve the lives of others as a better sender. Email is a subject that invigorates (and occasionally infuriates) me, so get ready for plenty more in the future. But if you’re one of the seemingly innumerable people who’s snowed under by email or unsure how to deal with it at a responsible level, flip through a few of these oldies, and see if any ideas jump out at you.
16 Comments
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 A Collection of Solid Email...Submitted by ClearContext Corporate Weblog (not verified) on February 6, 2006 - 9:14am.
A Collection of Solid Email Tips… From 43 Folders: Becoming an Email Ninja…. » POSTED IN:
[...] Playing catchup after my...Submitted by Baltimoremick.com » Taming the Email Beast (not verified) on February 6, 2006 - 9:27am.
[…] Playing catchup after my weekend unplug, I came across a couple of blog posts concerning email. The first post–from former Mac evangelist turned venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki–is a good summary of what I think are important when it comes to email. I realize the topic is a dead horse I keep beating, but email is such a useful tool that many of us–myself included at times–just plain abuse. Go peruse how to be The Effective Emailer, and spread it among your friends. Just maybe these little rules will catch on. Of course, with email comes the ever-burgeoning Inbox. Merlin Mann–lifehacker extraordinaire at 43 Folders–has compiled a post with links to many of his various methods for taming our Inboxes. He makes an excellent point: the wonderful tool that email was envisioned to be has become the scourge for many of us. Some of the tips are quite Mac-centric, but there are some good ones that are universally applicable and help all of us in Becoming an Email Ninja. […] » POSTED IN:
I work in a sales...Submitted by RevMike (not verified) on February 11, 2006 - 8:09am.
I work in a sales engineering/professional services capacity, so I am constantly moving from client site to client site. Because I have no fixed office, my CrackBerry is vital to me. I defer almost all my emailing until I have downtime. My commute (by train) is a perfect time to respond to most of the mundane emails, as well as compose very detailed messages. My clients appreciate that I can respond to urgent issues quickly, and my family appreciates that I don’t have to handle email when I get home at night. » POSTED IN:
[...] 43 Folders had a...Submitted by and i’m spent… » Blog Archive » Ninj (not verified) on February 8, 2006 - 4:58am.
[…] 43 Folders had a wonderful post on what one should do to maximize work done via email while also minimizing time spent on that. Yes, we should all learn a few things… let us become ninja’s together. […] » POSTED IN:
Sorting your mail in Outlook... ... ...Submitted by richardgoodwin.com (not verified) on February 7, 2006 - 5:11am.
Sorting your mail in Outlook… … » POSTED IN:
[...] Be productive, be an...Submitted by stories from a Web Junkie life » links, tools & su (not verified) on February 7, 2006 - 4:28pm.
[…] Be productive, be an email ninja. From the wonderful world of 43Folders, this recap of tips will help you get control of what was supposed to be a productivity tool. […] » POSTED IN:
[...] From the venerable 43folders.com....Submitted by 28thavenue.net » Can’t recommend this post highl (not verified) on February 6, 2006 - 7:25am.
[…] From the venerable 43folders.com. […] » POSTED IN:
Here's what I do -...Submitted by Russ N. (not verified) on February 6, 2006 - 10:06am.
Here’s what I do - warning: MS Outlook on Windows XP-centric life. ** Turn off the sound of email coming in (except for boss) ** Turn off the new mail icon ** Work from the tasks window rather than the Inbox. ** copious use of rules: 1) if I’m cc’d it goes into CCfile folder 2) newsletters/e-zines go into Newsletters folder 3) auto-delete list continues to grow 4) auto-copy messages from boss to folder 5) auto-copy specific subject tags to folder ** process inbox and emails requiring more than 2min get added as a task in Outlook. Learning from my boss the power of brevity (still not perfect). » POSTED IN:
I solved all my email...Submitted by Sylvain (not verified) on February 6, 2006 - 10:39am.
I solved all my email problems by not consuming them through Outlook but through a index engine. I am currently using Windows Desktop Search and it works perfectly. Ido have some rules that puts them into folders but that is not needed anymore. I am no longer searching for email in outlook, I am now finding them! Simple search queries such as “from:bob to:sylvain Stuff” are very powerfull… To find thinkg I recieved from bob about stuff… » POSTED IN:
I agree with you wholeheartedly...Submitted by Itzy Sabo (not verified) on February 6, 2006 - 11:33am.
I agree with you wholeheartedly re: processing your inbox as a specific task and not casually picking through it all the time, but I disagree about making multiple passes through it: picking off the easy ones, then flagging, then answering etc. Most people let the “difficult” ones fall back into the inbox — it’s too tempting not to decide how to handle them. They end up wasting time re-reading them again and again with each pass, and the inbox gets clogged up with them. IMHO once you pick up an email, you should never let it drop back in the inbox — you have to decide now what action to take (delete/archive/reply/action/etc.) and then get it out of sight and onto the relevant action list. It’s all too easy not to decide, and we have to lose this habit. » POSTED IN:
[...] Recap: Becoming an Email...Submitted by Greetings from Atlanta. » links for 2006-02-07 (not verified) on February 6, 2006 - 9:24pm.
[…] Recap: Becoming an Email Ninja | 43 Folders Here are a few of my favorite (and the site’s most popular) posts on that heated topic of email — how to better deal with email as a recipient, and how to improve the lives of others as a better sender. (tags: email GTD tips) […] » POSTED IN:
And... what should we, real...Submitted by Ivan Minic (not verified) on February 7, 2006 - 12:25am.
And… what should we, real ninjas do now? :) » POSTED IN:
[...] Keeping on my e-mail...Submitted by Elroy Jetson » Blog Archive » Working smarter, n (not verified) on February 7, 2006 - 1:44am.
[…] Keeping on my e-mail thread, I thought I would toss out a link to a couple of items I have run across that I have found very useful. First, over at 43Folders today they are running a post that links together all of their past posts on using e-mail effectively. This should be mandatory reading prior to getting your e-mail license. […] » POSTED IN:
I posted my most value...Submitted by Richard (not verified) on February 7, 2006 - 4:03am.
I posted my most value tip/trick at my site today. Feedback welcomed! http://www.richardgoodwin.com/wp/2006/02/07/sorting-your-mail-in-outlook/ » POSTED IN:
[...] 43Folders has a roundup...Submitted by Rage on Omnipotent » Blog Archive » Email and ca (not verified) on February 9, 2006 - 12:19am.
[…] 43Folders has a roundup of all of their email tips. And 30Boxes looks like a nice new online calendar application. […] » POSTED IN:
Greetings, Thanks for the recap....Submitted by MMS (not verified) on February 12, 2006 - 12:50pm.
Greetings, Thanks for the recap. But… some of us are still waiting for the 15 min DMZ clean-up tips…. grasshoppa » POSTED IN:
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Inbox ZeroThe original 43 Folders series looking at the skills, tools, and attitude needed to empty your email inbox — and then keep it that way. Don’t miss the free video of Merlin’s Inbox Zero presentation. Get Started with ‘GTD’David Allen’s popular productivity book and the system on which it’s based help turn ‘stuff’ into actions that support valuable outcomes. |
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