43 Folders’ post on managing that incredibly full email box by moving everything into a folder called DMZ and starting afresh got me thinking about how I manage dealing with a tonne of emails that come in.
My way of feeling like I’m keeping on top of my inbox(es) is simple: keep the number of emails in my inbox below 10. This usually means I have 9 emails in my inbox but that always feels manageable - the list is nice and short. Each day, I keep to this and it never grows out of control. When I go away for a while and my inbox has a tonne, I sort by the email subject which helps me deal more quickly with the pile.
I also have two subfolders for my inbox: one called “In progress” which has emails I need to quickly refer back to but don’t need to reply to (I try keeping this to below 20). The other is called “Comments” which filters in all my inbox emails which are comments on any of my blogs.
Once I’ve finished with emails I file them in folders based on date. Here’s what I have currently:
- 2006
- Sept-Dec 05
- Jan-Aug 05
- 2004
- Before 2004
I’ll usually work in two month archives which get collapsed together over time as I don’t need to refer to them as often. So when it’s March, 2006 will become Jan-Feb 06 and I’ll start a new folder called Mar-Apr 06.
Important emails such as account login details I’ll label as important in Thunderbird so they stand out in colour when I open archive folders.
For quick searching of my old emails, I’ll use Google desktop or, if I know the rough date of the email, I’ll look first in that folder.
your thoughts
Pete...
I generally just use Gmail now, I know its a bit lazy, but I like it as I can tag all my mail to easily manage it and the search is great. Plus it works really well on my cell phone and saves having to pop3 on my cell and then sync with outlook… My inbox is at 40 tho, so I should probably sort it out at somepoint…
Jason
I like Gmail - but I just don’t trust my important emails to be hosted by a 3rd party - I like to keep them on my laptop.
My new year’s resolution is to not let a day go by without replying to or doing something about any emails that arrive that day. I’ll have to devote some time at the end of each day to reply to and then asign tasks for anything that arrives that day.
I want to start each day with an empty inbox.
Like all new year resolutions though - maybe I’ll keep to that, and maybe I won’t!
Nicky
Handling emails has always been a major subject to me, job-wise and through my blog. Actually I haven’t found the perfect system for me yet and yours looks quite promising…