Just a reminder that we have about 15 shopping days until the galactic holiday known as Mark Wentz's Birthday. There are great gift ideas out there for your loved ones. And don't forget to pre-order your doughnuts and pizza as there may limited quantities.
A friendly reminder from Wentzmania.com
And have a good day
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Toward Zero E-mail Messages
Several weeks back, I listened to a vodcast/podcast/video/whatever of a Merlin Mann lecture on Inbox Zero. I guess the point is to have your e-mail inbox empty 10 minutes after you open it. I tried it; and I like it.
I don't follow it to the letter, though. For instance, we're told to have only one archive for saved e-mail messages. Nope; I need more. I do try it keep it simple, but, as an e-mail message archiver, I have needs.
The one hurdle I have yet to overcome are the short-term messages. I get messages that are important for, maybe, two weeks and then can be tossed. There isn't really a place for those in my system. Perhaps I should create a folder called "2 weeks" for those messages. Are there any problems a blog cannot solve?
But, overall, it's refreshing to me to have an empty e-mail inbox. I feel like there is less hanging over me.
Furthermore, I've been more free with my e-mail delete button. That's nice. So often, I don't really need an e-mail message but don't want to keep it either. Now, too bad. DELETE! Sorry, but that one guy said to.
One other note on this. During the lecture, he told us to close our e-mail except for, perhaps, 10 minutes an hour. You waste time when you check e-mail as it arrives. It's better to blow through it all at once and be done with it for an hour. This also solves the problem of people expecting you to reply instantly. They only expect you to reply instantly if you let them expect you to reply instantly. If you stop replying instantly, they'll no longer expect it. Theoretically. Having your e-mail closed 5/6 of the time forces you to not reply instantly. There is one small problem with that.
I'm the guy who expects instant replies to e-mail messages. Oops.
Anyway, check out Inbox Zero.
And have a good day!
I don't follow it to the letter, though. For instance, we're told to have only one archive for saved e-mail messages. Nope; I need more. I do try it keep it simple, but, as an e-mail message archiver, I have needs.
The one hurdle I have yet to overcome are the short-term messages. I get messages that are important for, maybe, two weeks and then can be tossed. There isn't really a place for those in my system. Perhaps I should create a folder called "2 weeks" for those messages. Are there any problems a blog cannot solve?
But, overall, it's refreshing to me to have an empty e-mail inbox. I feel like there is less hanging over me.
Furthermore, I've been more free with my e-mail delete button. That's nice. So often, I don't really need an e-mail message but don't want to keep it either. Now, too bad. DELETE! Sorry, but that one guy said to.
One other note on this. During the lecture, he told us to close our e-mail except for, perhaps, 10 minutes an hour. You waste time when you check e-mail as it arrives. It's better to blow through it all at once and be done with it for an hour. This also solves the problem of people expecting you to reply instantly. They only expect you to reply instantly if you let them expect you to reply instantly. If you stop replying instantly, they'll no longer expect it. Theoretically. Having your e-mail closed 5/6 of the time forces you to not reply instantly. There is one small problem with that.
I'm the guy who expects instant replies to e-mail messages. Oops.
Anyway, check out Inbox Zero.
And have a good day!
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