So just doing email blitzes won’t necessarily cut it, I believe. Although the concept is good.

Interestingly enough I pondered the same thing the other day, mostly about productivity and/or distractions. So if you allow, I’d like to share the link.

http://carlo.zottmann.org/2007/02/14/the-n-ways-of-highly-ineffective-people/

It’s not just about email but IM etc. as well. Most of it is obvious anyways, I think. I wrote this after seeing a lot of people struggle through their days; there were so many distractions, no wonder so many are stressed out all the time… I hadn’t seen your blog yet, and when a co-worker pointed me here today, I was delighted to see like minds.

Cheers from Germany,
Carlo

I somehow never decide “right, I’ll never reply to these”. I generally use the unread todo approach, but with the volume I get, if it’s unread and more than 2 days old, I generally ignore it.

… I obviously should unsubscribe from some mailing lists, but then how will I know everything?

Oh, and be careful with “needs in-depth response” folders – I used to use that approach, but the folder became a black hole from which nothing ever emerged. There’s a fine line between good procrastination and bad…

Mike, this is a great point and to be honest exactly why I DON’T use such a folder. Out of sight is out of mind — so personally I do a lot better if anything in my inbox that is bolded is unread and anything unbolded is todo.

It really helped when I moved my email onto my laptop (which sits next to my desktop computer). I wake it up a couple of times a day to check email. I also have a Gmail account that notifies me of messages on my main computer – I use that one for crucial things like emergency contacts and “server gone horribly wrong” alerts.

Oh, and be careful with “needs in-depth response” folders – I used to use that approach, but the folder became a black hole from which nothing ever emerged. There’s a fine line between good procrastination and bad…