Lately I’ve been looking into how much time I spend in front of Mail (Apple’s email client). I feel like it’s always a struggle to get away from email for two reasons. If I close Mail I am afraid to open it again as I know it will be a chore to get to the bottom of the pile , but if I leave it open all day I find it hard to complete my day’s work without constant interruption.
Time for a personal assistant you say?
Maybe, but there might be a better way in the interim. Like trying to find the ultimate way of organising tasks, keeping on top of email can be just as daunting (read: useless). I poked around the 43folders web site and may just have found it.
Merlin Mann is the creator of 43folders and his website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.
Delving in to some of the posts, I managed to get a basis of how I might go about keeping on top of emails (codename Inbox Zero).
- Better practices for staying (near) zero
- Quick tips on processing your inbox
- 5 fast email productivity tips
After having a read of this site and venturing off into Google, I finally had a plan. Create some folders in Mail (abandoning my previous structure) and action emails in the appropriate way. I’m not creating anything new and revolutionary here, but so far using these ideas is working for me (and making a massive difference to the time spent in front of email).
For anyone possibly interested in the way I am doing things, let me know in the comments. I might just find the time to follow this up.
