How to deal with Email like a ninja
Okay, maybe there are better ways to organize and deal with email, or maybe your volume isn’t the same as others who are “so” popular. But I never seem to have a problem cranking through email easily - but I owe it to all the productivity “gods” from lifehacker.com, 43folders.com, and others. Regardless, here is the setup I have for making sure I always stay on top of email.
@ folders:
I have 5 folders that are “sub’d” under the inbox that have the “@” sign in front of them. The “@” sign is there for two reasons; first it puts those folders at the top since most email systems organize things a-z, and secondly because my “@” folders are my “action” folders or the ones that I need to interact with the most and that contain the messages that require action from me. Here are my “@” folders:
@Action Support: This folder is for messages that I get that I will need to either take action on in the next few days, or that I still need to decide what action to take.
@To Read: This for email that is longer that I know I will need to read later, or for article links that are sent my way.
@Waitingfor: This is a folder where I place emails I have SENT to others where I am waiting for action from them. There are ways to have the message automatically moved to a certain folder after it is sent in programs like Outlook and Entourage, or I just move them manually. The benefit is having a running list of all the stuff I am waiting for, and the date and time I sent it.
@Reply: This is obvious, but there are certain emails that take some extra thought in their reply and this is where they go. Then when I need to crank through important replies I can focus just on that.
@Projects: This is a main folder that has 10 or more subfolders titled for the active or live projects I have going. Only the stuff that is “live” has a folder here, and it is where I keep track of all the information coming in about those things. So, when I see an email with just information that is FYI, I don’t even read it really, I just drag it there. Then when I am reviewing or working on that project I open that folder as a quick reference for the actions I need to take.
Inbox:
There are plenty of people (and when I say plenty I mean Josh) who have hundreds or even thousands of emails in their inbox. For me, I want my inbox as clear as possible. It represents that I have addressed everything that has come my way. Not that I have “done” it, but that I have organized it for further action. By having my “@” folders in place I can very quickly go through my inbox and organize the information that has come my way into piles of similar action or response. When I have some time to read through materials I can go to my @toread folder and read through the emails and articles there all at once. Having this systems helps me to focus better in the different “modes” that all of us have to move between during a normal work day. But usually we are flying back and forth so quickly between them that we can’t focus or address the information very well. This system helps me to do a better job taking action on my information while helping me to actually go through it a a quicker pace.
Reference:
This is one large folder where pretty much everything else goes that I need to hold onto, seriously. It has over 12,ooo emails in it right now. Why is it one large folder? Because the search on Gmail or through my Mac is faster and better at finding emails than me trying to create a large nested system of folders to wade through. Now, once a project is complete I do just drag it to reference as a sub folder cause it is already organized. And I do have a couple other sub folders under Reference, but I only go down one level. You can’t believe how much time just using search will save you vs. a large system of folders.(even if you are on a pc, I suggest Google Desktop Search, though others might be better…).
There is my system I hope that it helps. If any of you have any other “ninja” tips for email share them! Email can be one of the largest time sinks in terms of productivity, we all need help with it!
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[...] How to deal with Email like a ninja - A guide from Who are these Guys - certainly something I’m going to be implementing in the next few weeks in my new job. [...]