Email organization with one folder
LifeClever’s recent post about emptying your inbox reminded me that I’ve long wanted to say something about my own email organization strategy. It closely follows LifeClever’s initial advice, but unlike many other email organization strategies, it doesn’t involve keeping an empty inbox and it only takes one folder. Before you gasp in fear, just read on. You might be surprised how well it can work. Here’s how to get started:
- Create an archive folder.
- Move everything in your inbox to the archive folder. Go to your inbox, select all the email messages and move them into the folder you just created.
Now whenever you receive new messages, do one of two things:
- If you can act on it, read it or delete it immediately (within one minute), do so. Then move to the the archive folder if you haven’t deleted it.
- If you can’t act on it, read it or delete immediately, keep it in your inbox and act on it when you have time. This can be 30 minutes later, a day later or a week later - it’s up to you.
One of the ideas behind this system is that the inbox acts like a tickler file, reminding you about things you have to do. This can potentially result in an inbox that’s overflowing, but as a general rule I try to keep less than ten or so messages in my inbox. So once there’s more than ten emails sitting there, it’s like my inbox is telling me to get off my lazy butt and do something about it.
Some common questions
Q: How will I find messages without sorting them into folders?
A: The power of modern desktop search makes using folders for organization seem so last year. On Macs, I use Spotlight though I don’t particularly like the interface; on PCs I recommend the powerful Google Desktop Search for its simple and effective interface.
Q: Why don’t you recommend at least a few basic folders defined by the action that is required?
A: With every folder you create, you’re giving yourself one more choice every time an email arrives in your inbox. Do you really need to decide if you should put an email in a “Hold” or a “Waiting” folder? Using the one folder system, either you can action an item or you can’t. It’s that simple.
Q: Not even the Trusted Trio?
A: The Trusted Trio uses two additional folders: “Action” and “Hold.” My inbox doubles as my action folder, and I archive email that would otherwise be moved to a “Hold” folder. If I need to find a FedEx confirmation number or a message from a co-worker saying, “I’ll get back to you Tuesday re: The Big Project,” I’ll just search for it. And if I really need quick access to it, I’ll flag it for easier findability.
Q: But aren’t you mixing your apples and oranges in your inbox?
A: Yes, but I can easily tell them apart because new messages are bold and older messages aren’t.
Q: I like the idea in theory, but I get way too much email to keep my inbox in the single digits all the time.
A: You shouldn’t expect complete efficiency all the time; keeping up with email can be hard work.
Q: But there are just so many emails!
A: If you get so much email that keeping all those messages in your inbox seems unbearable then this system is probably not for you.
Any other questions? Please include them in the comments and I’ll try to answer them as soon as I can.
- 23 Aug 06
- email, howto, organization, productivity, simplicity
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Comments (Add Yours)
Yes, this system works if you have a way of efficiently searching the Archives. Spotlight handles this task quite well on the Mac, and I’ve recently begun using Beagle on the Gnome Linux desktop.
I originally used an Inbox/Hold/Archive/Respond/Waiting scheme, but it took too much thought to file things appropriately. You also have to remember to monitor the extra boxes.
As an aside, I find I’m spending a lot less time building filesystem folders now that desktop search is beginning to mature.
kit on 24 Aug 06
This is a good idea. What I do (on my 10.4 Mac) is have a Smart folder which only displays ‘unread’ emails - either ones I haven’t yet read, or ones I haven’t yet actioned. That way, my inbox effectively becomes the archive you’re talking about, while the smart folder becomes my ‘tickler’ file. Good stuff.
David Horn on 24 Aug 06
Oh, a smart folder for unread mail is an excellent idea. You could use it to be the dump-bin for several different acclunts, also. :-)
kit on 24 Oct 06