07-27-2007, 04:43 PM
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Executive Editor, Android Thoughts
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,233
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What Is Your Email Organization Strategy?
Email is my life. Friends contact me through email, work associates pester (uh... I mean inform) me through email, my spouse sends odd stories to me through email, and people I'd rather not email me send me forwards through my email. Heck, the only person in my house that doesn't email me is my cat, and I think that's due to the fact she doesn't check her fan mail from her website very often due to other sleep-related commitments. So how do I handle all this email? Simple. I read it, mark any appropriate categories on it, and send it to a folder with the month's name (Actually number and name, so it displays in order in Outlook. For this month, the folder is "07 - July"). My inbox is always empty when I'm done reading email, just like I like it.
But recently I've become very aware that not all people are like me in this regard. A colleague opened Outlook Web Access a few weeks ago and I was amazed to see her displaying 1400 PAGES of email (at 25 per page). Just in her inbox! Sure, finding email was pretty quick as it was all in one folder, but I couldn't imagine having an Inbox that cluttered! In October 2005 I got an email response via an internal mailing list from a fellow PPCT Team Member to an email that had been written to him in November of 2004 (Before I even joined up!)! He was "cleaning out his inbox" and finally got around to sending out a reply. While I commend his diligence in replying, I marvel how he can get work done with that much email in the inbox - the folder he views every day!
How do you handle your email? Does your Inbox overfloweth? Or do you file things away like I do? And I guess the question I really want to know is Am I just really weird that I need a clean inbox??? 
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Dr. Jon Westfall, MCSE, MS-MVP
Executive Editor - Android Thoughts
News Editor - Windows Phone Thoughts
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07-27-2007, 05:01 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 92
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You are not weird. I cannot imagine 1400 pages of email in my Inbox. That would drive me nuts.
I use the GTD Outlook Add-in from NetCentrics http://gtdsupport.netcentrics.com/home/ to help me with my Getting Things Done implementation. From any email I can delegate, defer, create a task, file it, or connect it to a project. It's very helpful. I have files set up to mimic my active projects to hold all email related to that project.
For searching all my email, I use Lookout, but it seems to be unavailable.
-James
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07-27-2007, 05:37 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 439
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I use my Inbox and my task list. I get an email. If it needs action, I leave it in my Inbox until I have completed it. Otherwise I delete it. If I need to find some particular email from someone a long time ago, I use the advanced search feature on the Deleted Items folder.
Works for me. My boss does the 1400 pages in his inbox thing. Bugs the hell out of me everytime I see it.
Sounds like this thread needs a poll.
Robb
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07-27-2007, 06:25 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,183
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I use message rules in Outlook Express to automatically filter work, newsgroup and other messages.
I have a SPAM filter that automatically routes SPAM to a junk folder. I browse that onece or twice a week just in case something got filtered by mistake. Then I delete the contents of the SPAM folder.
Anything unfiltered by rules ro SPAM filter ends up in the in-box. Usually it's personal mail, junk, or something I need a new rule for. Most I read and delete. Some get a quick response. I might create a new rule, or drag a mail to an appropriate folder if I don't really need a new rule.
Any unread messages are addressed when they come in. Sometimes I need to respond later, so I'll flag and/or mark the email as unread, then I know I need to get to it later.
There's a few more details, but that's the main meat of it. I get well over 100 email a day, ignoring SPAM, so I need to be this anal about my email!
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07-27-2007, 06:44 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 104
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I'm a clean inbox guy. Like users above, I work my inbox like a task list. Once I reply or do whatever I am reminding myself to do, it's gone.
I guess if that's weird there are a few of us that are weird here
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07-27-2007, 06:50 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 4
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I get way too many e-mails -- 300-400 per day -- to try and continually sort them. It would drive me absolutely batty. I also never delete an e-mail for records purposes.
Instead, I'm huge on flagging e-mails for follow up. Everything that comes into my Inbox gets a quick scan; if it requires action, I immediately flag it and move on to the next unread e-mail. I do this until I have a short reprieve from new unreads, and then go back and act on each flagged e-mail until it's time to start the process all over again.
By the end of the day, I (ideally) have no unreads and no flagged e-mails. Since I keep all e-mails for the "paper trail," I archive them on a monthly basis in a separate .PST file.
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07-27-2007, 06:51 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,202
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I'm the opposite of previous posters -- not a clean inbox guy. I keep everything in my inbox - about 3000 messages right now. I tried the folder thing, but too many of my messages belonged in more than one folder and I could never remember which folder I stuffed it in. So, I installed Copernic on my desktop, and it indexes my inbox. Whenever I need to find something I simply search in Copernic, very simple, and much easier than looking through multiple folders IMO. For items that require additional work, I flag the item for follow up, rather than using tasks like I used to. Just seems easier for me to have everything in one place.
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07-27-2007, 07:24 PM
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Thoughts Media Review Team
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 749
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I'm with you, Jon... my Inbox is cleaned out pretty well 'real time' as the stuff comes in. I sometimes keep an email there to remind me of something I need to address or get back to them on, but generally it's got no more than 4 or 5 entries in it MAX. Fortunately, my company has a 200Mb limit on Inbox, so that provides me with an incentive to move reference stuff out to folders.
I make extensive use of Appt notices and future-dated Tasks to keep on top of what I need to do from day to day. Without my PPC, I'd be completely lost.
MY DEAR WIFE, otoh, is the exact opposite. She keeps EVERYTHING in her inbox, and like your friend, relies on the Search capability to find stuff. She's got, like 4 to 5 THOUSAND entries in her inbox and accumulates 100 to 200 a day -- most of it junk, and she has to spend probably 2 to 3 hours sometime each couple of weeks to clear it out a bit -- again, because of corporate policies regarding inbox size.
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/drt
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07-27-2007, 07:31 PM
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Executive Editor, Android Thoughts
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,233
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Urban Strata
By the end of the day, I (ideally) have no unreads and no flagged e-mails. Since I keep all e-mails for the "paper trail," I archive them on a monthly basis in a separate .PST file.
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I'm also a huge flag for followup person - although sometimes my flags linger up to a month or two depending on if it's something I Just don't want to address yet ( ) or if it's something I"m waiting on. I archive to PST every 2 - 3 months, although monthly PSTs are probably not a bad idea. One thing I hate about PST archiving is the "Sent Items" folder. I usually forget to include it and then when reviewing archived mail, I have half the conversation / attachments!
__________________
Dr. Jon Westfall, MCSE, MS-MVP
Executive Editor - Android Thoughts
News Editor - Windows Phone Thoughts
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07-27-2007, 07:33 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,043
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For some reason I've always started to get nervous if my inbox starts pushing 100 count. Somewhere around 70 or 80 there's a little tickle whenever I look at the total count displayed on the bottom bar of nPOPuk, the only email program I use. If that goes into the 90's it's time to spend a while sorting things into saveboxes, deleting what's no longer relevant, and replying where necessary. So my inbox is sort of a task list, with the total number giving me a little push to deal with things before they get too old. With roughly 20 real letters oer day (and 50 or so spam to delete) the load isn't too bad. Tends to result in a few smaller sorting sessions per week to deal with more pressing business emails, then my roughly once-per-week major sort and delete session takes a bit longer as I respond to letters from friends and family (who have more patience than clients tend to do).
nPOP didn't used to be so convenient. There was only the one 'SaveBox' besides 'Inbox' so that made me a bit more likely to save email out into folders as TXT files. However convenient that is for archival purposes, it's not quite so intuitive nor as convenient to search through archived text files and respond to folks, or to follow up on an old conversation. The newer versions which allow a lot of folders (actually DAT files, which can easily be read in any good text editor without using an email interface if desired) encourage me to just pile things into categories, then I can archive those as blocks of text in a more readily searchable format than one-file-per-email archiving. nPOPuk offers filters and such, but I tend to cope with things manually, to avoid mistakes or missing an urgent correspondence.
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