Merlin Mann has another great post on email management and the utility of folders. In short, folders can be bad if filing and organizing keeps you from doing work that actually needs to be done.
Since my first post on email management, I’ve made the switch to having just two folders in my email program, one called “Action” and another called “Archive.” Any email that requires some action taking longer than 2 minutes goes from my Inbox to the “Action” folder. Anything I can do in under 2 minutes I do on the spot. Email I want to keep for future reference goes into the “Archive” folder. Everything else is deleted.
I was nervous about switching to just two folders because I thought my old system kept everything in its right place. I had hundreds of nested folders for each of my friends, family members, online stores, utility companies, projects, etc. What would happen if I just dumped it all into one folder?
So far everything has gone great and I wouldn’t think of switching back. Instead of wasting time trying to remember if I was filing Amazon receipts in Purchases, or Books, or in a separate Amazon folder, I just dump them into the Archive. I also save time by not creating a folder for each new contact that comes along or fiddling with existing folders.
I can think of two reasons why this system works for me:
- I process all my emails up front, catching any that require me to do some kind of action before filing them. Before the email makes it to the “Archive” folder I’ve either done what needed to be done or made a note on my to-do list.
- The default Apple email program (Mail.app) has great search capabilities and I haven’t had any trouble finding messages I need in just seconds.
Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t turned anti-folder. I can imagine situations where I’d want some ad hoc organization, like if I didn’t have access to a printer for a while I might want to keep reimbursable project receipts in their own folder. But overall I like the streamlined 2-folder approach.
Merlin’s post is good reading, and for more background on using just two folders check out the original Lifehacker article that got me to switch. As usual, behind all of this is David Allen’s Getting Things Done system.
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9 comments ↓
just one folder is a good way. i havent read the article you have linked but i think it will do a lot of help.
the main idea should be tagging the mails, not putting into too many different folders. but of course number of tags also have to be very strictly restricted or you can loose control very quick.
Thanks for the comment, super hero.
I was about to use a tagging plug-in for Mail.app a while back but decided I didn’t have the time to get it going just then. I was also worried that the tags would get out of control like you mentioned.
Is there a particular program you’ve found useful for tagging email?
Cheers,
Jim
i use gmail for most of my personal mails. i use outlook for the mail account provided by the company i work for. and both gmail and outlook have a tag system.
gmail is really going to be the next big thing in the internet. they are definitely on the way to launch an online operating system. in a year or two any average user will benefit from a very operational operating system without having to pay a lot of money for windows or without having to deal with a lot of unnecessary details of linux based stuff.
I’ll definitely keep my eyes open for that. Sounds fascinating.
Cheers,
Jim
I don’t really understand the obsession with an empty Inbox. I have over 10,000 messages in my Inbox, but that doesn’t bother me at all. (I use GMail primarily.) I use other methods to figure out what emails may need some action, like the starring option in GMail.
I think what’s really important is filtering so that emails that are not addressed to me personally (email lists, etc.) don’t clutter my Inbox. Those are all sent automatically to labeled archives. I’m going to post about all this one of these days.
Sounds like you’ve got a system that works for you, Eszter, and I may go back to filtering once I read your future post.
For me, having an empty inbox gives me a psychological boost, just like having a clear desk. It says I’ve taken care of loose ends and know what needs to be done.
If I opened up my inbox and had 20, 100, or 10,000 (!) emails, I’d suspect that there was something in there that I’d missed. At the very least my eyes might scan what I could see on the screen and each sender or subject could trigger any number of to-dos and tangents. That’s not a bad thing, but I’d rather choose when to do that (like a GTD weekly review).
I use another slight variation - just like eszter, I leave everything in my inbox (although I archive each year at the end of the year, so it doesn’t get TOO big)
Makes life so much easier when you don’t have to sort a thing ever.
Anything to action I double click to open in a new window. Messages I’m writing are also in their own window. This means any windows I have floating around I know need action of some sort. Exposé shows how much stuff I’ve got to do. Handily open windows are remembered between sessions.
http://bla.st/email/
Thanks for the comment, Tim. That’s an interesting technique…I like how your system involves closing windows as you finish tasks–it’s kind of like crossing off items on a to-do list.
Have you every had a problem with accidentally closing windows before you finished the action or with computer crashes? That’d be my worry….then you’d have to go back through your inbox rereading all your mail to find those tasks, right?
A simple variation on the method I described above:
- Leave everything in the inbox
- Use the “Flag” feature to flag any emails that require action (instead of opening windows)
That’s it!
http://bla.st/mac/
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