Comments on: Using a three-folder system to keep e-mail under control

By: My Blog » Blog Archive » Weekly Grab Bag – March 13, 2010

My Blog » Blog Archive » Weekly Grab Bag – March 13, 2010 — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:36:52 +0000

[...] Using a three-folder system to keep e-mail under control (Unclutterer) – Uh oh. PRODUCTIVITY ALERT! Ya'll know by now that I'm a sucker [...]

By: Brad Marley » Blog Archive » Weekly Grab Bag – March 13, 2010

Brad Marley » Blog Archive » Weekly Grab Bag – March 13, 2010 — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:48:07 +0000

[...] Using a three-folder system to keep e-mail under control (Unclutterer) – Uh oh. PRODUCTIVITY ALERT! Ya'll know by now that I'm a sucker [...]

By: Katie Morton

Katie Morton — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:17:54 +0000

I was at a point where I was spending practically all day, every day on email until I started using a system like this. Now I spend maybe an hour tops on email each day. My work life is way more sane for it.

By: Patti

Patti — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:38:26 +0000

Thanks for the tip. I keep pretty much nothing in home email (including Address Book contact who never reply or who never send me anything), but I do have too many Outlook folders at work. Limiting to three folders is a great idea, and one I CAN and WILL do TODAY!

I might even be able to streamline down to only TWO folders — To Do, and Waiting. “Reference” items that are “done” or need no other action could actually just be saved to the hard drive using the File – Save As menu, then deleted from Outlook.

Speaking of clearing out too many Outlook folders, would it disrupt the space-time continuum to delete the automatic folders that Mr. Gates has blessed us with? Like quarantine, For Follow Up, Large Mail, Unread Mail (duplicate to Inbox), Sent Mail (duplicate to Outbox), etc.?

By: DR. WHAW? – March 9, 2010 « One True Sentence

DR. WHAW? – March 9, 2010 « One True Sentence — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:23:27 +0000

[...] Using a three-folder system to keep e-mail under control by Erin Doland – I’m meticulous about my e-mail filing. If the preview pane in Outlook can’t show all my messages at once, I’m overwhelmed. Luckily, I control it (for the most part), and often only have one or two messages in limbo; however, e-mail overload and disorganization seem to plague many people, so be sure to check out the comments as well. This is a simple system I think might help some of you get started… if you want. [...]

By: ray

ray — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:07:49 +0000

Ever try Mailsteward? Interested in any comments as there do not seem to be any current reviews.

By: Jess

Jess — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:19:54 +0000

I have streamlined my personal email Inbox (which as a SAHM, IS my work email) by directing all of my FYI emails, newsletters and the like, directly to my Deleted Items folder.

That way they do not scream for attention like new Inbox arrivals, I can scan them 10 or more at a time at my leisure to see if there’s anything I want to read/keep, and delete in bulk!

By: peachy

peachy — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:40:09 +0000

did this as soon as i read it, it’s great! now i won’t have to keep scrolling down through endless emails to find the one i need. so simple yet so useful. thanks so much

By: Terry Cole

Terry Cole — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:47:13 +0000

I use google stars for these purposes. I waste no time sorting or processing, but I have stars for “to-do” (and I break it into a star color for personal, personal-finance, business, and volunteer), to-read (with best intentions) or to-reference (what really happens). I personally use remember the milk for my to-do list because of it’s sophisticated repetition system and ability to maintain different lists so I can be productive and efficient. And I use google calendar.

Anyway… not moving or filing. Just stars. Then use the search capability (bookmarking quick searches) to find stuff quickly. The inbox is just a sequence of everything. Unread mail there means I haven’t yet checked it over for star power. Admittedly I have to look at it once a day to process but that’s no different than listening to voice mail or opening paper mail. But the stars and searches are everything. Review those lists on an appropriate basis (daily for to-dos, weekly for some (like church and volutneer), monthly for others (like finance), etc.

By: Karen

Karen — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:50:06 +0000

This is why I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Gmail! If you use the Google calendar and Google tasks, it is SUPER-SIMPLE to add emails to your calendar and your to-do list. You don’t need to have a reference folder because in gmail, everything is search-able (provided you archive rather than delete). Google/Gmail makes it easy to be organized (or at least to look that way =)

By: Three in One § Unqualified Offerings

Three in One § Unqualified Offerings — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:03:19 +0000

[...] Erin Doland discusses Gina Trapani’s three-folder-system for email, and concludes: [...]

By: steph

steph — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:37:06 +0000

Like JefferyK, at work I use my inbox as a to-do list. The folders I keep correspond to the projects I’m working on.

If email comes in and it’s just info about the project, it goes into the project folder immediately. If I finish the task of a to-do email, I put it into the folder project.

When the project ends, I sift through all the messages, pull out the worthless one-liners and archive the whole thing and take all the emails and project files off my computer entirely.

I’m motivated to keep this up because the less messages in my inbox is representative of less to-do items on my list!

By: K. H.

K. H. — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:25:21 +0000

Or here’s another one: let the computer do the filing for you. I have folders for received mail by year, and one marked “Hold” so I have a place to put emails I’m not moving while I’m emptying my inbox into the year folder. Anything important/undone stays in the inbox or I put in a to do list. You can look up anything by keyword, sender, date, etc. — so why bother to spend time specially filing it? I do agree that having as much information in the topic line as possible is good, and that’s the same for other kinds of documents.

By: Allison

Allison — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:47:13 +0000

I know people have a LOT of responsibilities at their jobs, especially those which require a lot of emails – but I’m surprised no one suggested that people should “respond to an email immediately.” I would say about 90% of emails can easily be indexed because it should take no more than 1 minute to write back. An email saying, “Hey Bob – did you get the TPS report?” can easily and efficiently be responded. I would say, a lot of emails are those which require people to double check themselves.

@Julia, Also my university actually obliges that all faculty and students are required to know any email that is sent to them within 24 hours. The email system is seen as official business, so if an email is sent then it the responsibility of the recipient to know of the email’s existence. It doesn’t mean that you HAVE to respond to it, but if a student sends you an email saying they are sick then you are not allowed to say you did not know that fact. It’s both a blessing and annoying.

By: Johan K

Johan K — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:33:01 +0000

Nice article, has me considering adding a “wait” folder to my in-box.
I’m with Jefferey, I move everything out of my inbox into folders as soon as I read them, unless I need to do something with them. In that sense, my inbox functions as my “to-do” folder, either read the e-mail, keep it there if I need to do something with it, or move it to a categorized subfolder (which can have subfolders of themselves based on specific subject or work). I also keep a specific folder in important category folders named “agreements” in which I move all e-mails with agreements in regard to work.

Objective is to have the inbox as empty as possible, which I accomplish every other day or so.

As for finding something later with this system… that’s why good e-mail programs have “All Mail” options…

Anyway, works for me.