Neatorama on sustainable email fu
Submitted by Merlin on July 10, 2007 - 5:29am.
Rule the Web (and Rule Your Email Inbox!)
Alex from the always-swell Neatorama has written up the bullets on his preferred method for keeping an email inbox at zero.
4. Have a Simple Filing System
Don’t overthink this: a complex folder with subfolder system is not what you need to remain organized. Obviously, your particular needs will dictate how many folders you have … but in my experience, you rarely, if ever, need subfolders.5. Have a Follow Up Folder There will be times that I need to research an answer to a particular email or do something before I can reply. I let these emails sit in my inbox for a maximum of 1 day (gasp!), then they get put into a Follow Up Folder if I haven’t gotten around to them - and then I add an entry in my to-do list.
Good tips, and my only (seemingly omnipresent) comment is to underscore that need to empty all your baskets regularly. Hence, one benefit of keeping your email storage and action structure light is that you won’t have to dash around to multiple places to see what’s on your plate.
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hot dang outlook + google...
hot dang outlook + google desktop have worked wonders for my email.
i wish i could quickly tag my email messages though, and that gdesktop could search on these tags. for now i still have several subfolders for my projects (i do web work for several clients) that mirror my Real Life file cabinet.
mac users ymmv (too lazy to see if google desktop even exists in the mac world, but i’m sure there’s something similar)
“Next Actions” and “Waiting For” email folders are my HOMIES! that plus my NA list on my smartphone/PC make up the bulk of my GTD
the rest is me avoiding procrastination, even when i know my NAs are clearly defined ;-)
j.