Simple Email Management
I was browsing email reminder systems at the weekend but none of them seemed like a huge improvement on what I already do. Here’s my system which owes a lot to Michael Linenberger: Total Workday Control and David Allen’s Getting Things Done. My system is a huge oversimplification of these but works pretty well for me.
Firstly, I only run one email folder in addition to the standard default folders. So, I have a folder called ‘Inbox’ into which new stuff arrives and a folder called ‘Processed’ where I put things once I have read them – unless they can be instantly deleted.
Why don’t I bother with more folders? Simply put I’ve tried this many times and either my folders end up out of control; or I stop using them; or I can’t remember which folder I put an email into. I usually know who the email was from, roughly when I got or what it was about. So, sorting through my processed mail means I can get to the item within about 30 seconds. I find that occasionally having to spend a little longer looking (and only very occasionally) is a small price to pay compared to having cascades of folders that I feel guilty if I’m not using.
So, what about the stuff in email that I want to do something with? Most people leave things in their email inboxes because they know that they have to do something with them but they’re either not sure what or they don’t want to tackle it just yet.
I drag the email to my task area and create a new task with the due date being the date that I want to be reminded about it. This sounds a little counter-intuitive but works really well. So if I know I need to reply but don’t have time to do it now, I’ll drag it to my tasks and make the due date Thursday. I then move the email into the ‘Processed’ folder and I’m done.
On the due date, the item appears on my list of ‘to dos’. Using this system a few things naturally happen:
· I can see where I’m procrastinating – some things have lingered on my ‘to do’ list for a couple of months. Typically these are the things that I actually don’t want to do.
· Over time the ‘long stayers’ on the ‘to do’ list become either irrelevant or urgent and can then get processed accordingly.
· I get reminders about things I’ve set weeks or months in advance that would previously have been left to chance. These are often follow-ups.
I’m reasonably disciplined about using the priority settings. I only tag as a priority something that MUST be done on a particular day. Of course, some tasks when left too long suddenly become priorities and it is a simple matter to reset their dates to show this.
All in all, this system is extremely effective for me in keeping on top of email and on track of the things that I have to do. I occasionally (very occasionally) use categories but only for projects that have a finite period in which to run.
I am also becoming more disciplined at storing business related emails on our SharePoint site. Again, the processes here are very simple. A drag and drop to the correct library using Colligo and the email is automatically filed with the addition of some simple metadata if I choose. The best use I have found is actually with sent mail. Here multiple documents sent in one email to a customer can all be registered with their email wrapper saving time describing each individually.
relatedTags: colligo, email management, gtd, total workday control