43 Folders

43 Folders feed subscription icon - Shiny!Time, Attention, and Creative Work. After 4 years and a lot of productivity pr0n, we’re shifting gears. Re-learn how to use 43 Folders. Then back to work. [»]

”What’s 43 Folders?”
43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.

Favorite Windows email tricks and plugins

I’m working on an article about email tricks for one of your finer magazines, and – as you might imagine – when it comes to the inevitable Windows stuff, I’m a bit light in the useful tips department. So, I turn to you Redmond-using smarties for help.

Do you have a favorite application, plugin, trick, or hack for bending Windows email to your will? Double-credit for Outlook add-ons that garden-variety users can install without fancy root-style access. Whence comes your magic Windows fu?

Robert's picture

I use Outlook as-is to...

I use Outlook as-is to implement GTD. I’ve tried add-ins and they seem to be more trouble than their worth. I recently adopted the mantra of Inbox Zero and have been maintaining that for weeks now by using the strategy of no reminders and 5 minute dashes hourly.

My favorite stupid Outlook trick is the ability to drag-n-drop an email to the Tasks folder to quickly convert it to a task. I jot some notes, edit the subject line to GTDize the entry, then delete the original email. Google Desktop helps maintain the archive of mail in the Deleted Items folder. By using the Tasks & Calendar its easy to maintain GTD sanity.

 
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An Oblique Strategy:
Honor thy error as a hidden intention


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The Podcast Feed

Inbox Zero

The 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.

Making Time

3-part series on attention management for artists and makers. Read Bad Correspondence, The Job You Think You Have, and One Clear Line.