If you need a reminder of what conversation you need to refer to on that day, just put the email title in the info section to remind yourself. That way the email can stay out of your inbox (and mind) until you need to be reminded at that time.

Diana

Email-I found “Take Back Your Life” by Sally McGhee to be very helpful. I can’t seem to get my outlook to form categories correctly, so I might use a paper format, but basically if an email requires an action, add that to your “to-do” list or calendar. Also, I’m working on writing emails so they include all needed information to reduce the back and forth. Lastly, I’m telling Grandpa to quit sending me forwards!!

Plasticware-I have one large container, a vegetable one from Tupperware, and I keep all lids there. I also really like the Stack n Spin. If that fits the size requirements for your situation it can reduce clutter immensely!

Lastly, Jackie, I love your resoluion. Have you heard of 411God? It’s only 1 minute of scripture, but it’s delivered to your phone or email at whatever time you choose. It’s been helpful for me to take a quick “snack” on the Bible when I can’t seem to find time for a feast!

http://theinkysquid.blogspot.c.....goals.html

To me, this approach is less intimidating than regular New Year’s resolutions and helps get me started on some new things.

Every few days the inbox gets to the 70 or 80+ range, so then I take a few extra minutes and delete or un-Inbox enough messages to get it back to under 50. I use the Gmail labels as a filing cabinet, which I think is not the way that they’re intended conceptually. But when I have more than one page of messages in my inbox, I forget where things are, what things are, and even that I have things to deal with.

Since I started with this rule, I find that I drop the ball on far fewer e-mail exchanges than I used to. I also have a better organizational system for finding things like people’s contact information, or documents I’ve sent to people.

So much so that myself and two friends created http://www.pledgehammer.com on our free time. It provides an easy way to write your resolutions down and share with whoever you want to share them with. It also has a charitable ‘flipside’ to it – if your resolution doesn’t stand it asks you to donate money to charity.

So far there are no resolutions related to sorting out email on the site (but there are plenty relating to losing weight, quitting smoking, being more green etc). Would be great to get more people to try Pledgehammer out and hear if it helps to stick to resolutions.

I am also committing to spending an extra 15 minutes on my feet when I get home each night. Once I sit down at the desk, I am highly unlikely to get back up. In that extra time I can lay out my clothes for the next day, wipe down counters, whatever it takes to make the next morning begin well.

I’ve read an article recently – unfortunately, I don’t remember where – where the woman just announced all e-mails she would receive during her 1 week vacation would be deleted. When she comes back, her inbox is fresh and empty.

You don’t HAVE TO answer everyone, especially when you are unable to answer right away.

So far, it’s going great.

I wish you luck with your email goal…………..:)

Rob

But if you love reading perhaps your 2009 resolution will make you
hate it. Is the tryanny aspect worth it? Take care.

@Alex–I agree, gmail could really use a reminder function. I used to use the marvelous iwantsandy.com for that, but it’s now defunct. Something I’ve been trying out is creating year+month labels. It’s a lot to keep track of, but I really only need reminders about six months out, so it seems to be working okay so far. Lettermelater.com might be helpful, too–you could use it to send you the necessary email at on a set date.

– Find a laundry basket that fits into the place you want to store your collection — onto a shelf, in a pantry closet — wherever.

– Cull ruthlessly through your collection, eliminating any items with no lids or lids that don’t fit well, items you have to hand wash, items of dubious utility.

– Keep no more pieces than will fit into your basket. Organize as desired. But don’t get nutty — it’s not that big a collection. You can see everything you have in at a glance.

– When you need to put away or take out a container, your basket easily pulls from its designated spot.

One last tip — stained items that you want to keep (for instance that colorless translucent Tupperware in which you stored spaghetti sauce or chili? A soak in the hotest water from the tap and the detergent you use in your dishwasher will remove the stains.

My resolution: Spend time each day quilting. Even a half-hour daily will add up over the week or month.

Cheers!

Dorothy