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

Vox Populi: How are you using Mail Tags?

I open the floor to all of you on a question of particular personal interest to me: How are you using Mail Tags?

While my uses of it to date have been helpful, I keep getting the feeling I'm not getting all that I can out of it -- especially since the ability to associate Projects, Priorities, etc. to a message could make for some really enticing Smart Folders.

I wonder if my question is ultimately more taxonomic in nature -- ultimately more about Spotlight in general or Tags in very very general: When tagging items on your Mac, what kind of '-onomy' are you using? How strictly do you enforce your vocabulary? What are the best practices for someone who's new to this?

Confidential to Mr. Thomas Vander Wal: if you turn up here and school me a bit on this, I’ll totally buy you a Coke. If you write a guest post on it, I’ll buy you a beefsteak and two cocktails. Seriously. Steak.

LTJohnB's picture

I agree with CM Harrington....

I agree with CM Harrington. MailTags, along with Main ActOn and smart folders is amazing. I am getting my masters online and as a result I get a ton of email that needs to be reviewed and sorted quickly. Besides my Inbox, I have got to folders where I keep everything...one for school, and one for everything else. I have a series of Smart Folders set up to pull content with certain MailTags. I also have a Smart Folder for all unread mail. I check new mail there and have forced myself to get into the habit of tagging it after I read it. Once it is read and tagged, it sits in my Inbox. Then on Sunday, I use Mail ActOn to clear out the Inbox. Everything resides in either the Archive or School Folder, but can be reviewed in whatever Smart Folder is applicable.

 
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