E-Mail -> Best Practices

[JohnH]

OK, I stuck my neck out, so I'll start this thread and ask others to jump in. Here are a few email practices I learned from "Getting Things Done" by David Allen, as well as from a few other sources. I can't over-emphasize how important an Empty In-Box can become - it's the key to taming the email monster.

1) Empty in-box. The way to do that is to make an upfront decision on every email as soon as you see it. The decision is to Delete/Do/Delegate/Defer. "Delete" & "Delegate" are obvious. "Do" is handled by the 2-minute Rule below. "Defer" is handled by using separate folders (or buckets).

2) The 2-minute Rule. If it can be dealt with in 2 minutes or less, go ahead & DO it, since it will take more than 2 minutes of total time to make a decision to "Defer" and then later loop back to it.

3) Folders (or buckets). Set up folders appropriate for how you operate. Among my folders are "Action", "Review Mid-Week", "Review-Weekly", "Review'Monthly", and several task-specific folders. Everything that is expected to take over 2 minutes MUST be moved to one of these folders - don't let it sit in the Inbox to distract you. Send a quick email to anyone whom you are deferring to let them know you read their inquiry and will get back to them. Let them know approximately when to expect to hear back from you. NOTE: The only way this system works is to develop the discipline to loop back to the folders based on the priority you have set for them. Failure to do that will destroy your trust in your system and you'll revert back to letting stuff pile up in your Inbox.

4) Subject Line Relevance. Subject lines have to contain enough info to convey the content of the email. If the sender doesn't take the time to do that, then change the subject line to make it appropriate before moving it. Do the same when replying to an email - at least the next time it comes back, you'll have an idea of what it contains. (When the message is short and can be condensed, let the subject line BE the email.) When composing an email, wait until you're finished to create the subject line. The subject line should be composed in the same manner as the headline for a news article.

I'll add more stuff later, but this is the essence. I'm sure others will have even bettter ideas to add - please do so.
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[DTS]

John

OK, I setup like you do, but don't have "buckets" for the "action" needed. I do have folders for each and every email of importance, which is usually just a client or order confirmation, etc. I try to "file" to the folders, at least, once a qtr., but will do it sooner if I have the time. I save all client emails pertaining to business or taxes. Filing to the folders is easy for me, as I just alphabetize all emails and then drag to its folder. Very easy.

Everyday, I look at the incoming and see the importance of it to me and will answer right away or shortly, as time permits. The rest of it has to wait until I have time to. Something that a friend will send over like jokes or pics, needs to wait until time permits. Junk gets an auto-delete by D. In extremely busy times, I leave the email off some days and only check when I'm expecting something, but no more than once or twice while working. Anyone from this board emailing me gets immediate attention, as they have done the same for me.

D

[PIGLEE]

You mentioned one thing I have never figured out how to do. Change the information in the subject line. How do you do it.

I once read an article on regular mail. It is called the "FAT" system. When you pick up a piece of junk mail, you either FILE it ,ACT on it, or TRASH it. Has made it easy to remember, and I have to remind myself of it quite ofter.

I like your idea of the files to check on in a week, day, or monthly. I think that is a great idea.

[JohnH]

Piglee: I can't change the subject line if I simply drag the email into its folder, so I forward the email to myself and make the change to the subject line before hitting the "Send " key. Since I already know what's in the forwarded message, I can delete the original from my inbox and immediately drag the forwarded message to the appropriate bucket as soon as it pops back up in the Inbox. It's worth the extra step to get that subject line right.

Dennis: I understand what you're doing and if it works for you then I'm not suggesting that you change. But I don't grasp how sorting the emails alphabetically helps to prioritize - how do you know when the Next Action on each email is due? One of the keys in the GTD system is setting Next Actions based on timeliness & importance, while not letting anything fall through the cracks.

[DTS]

Dennis: I understand what you're doing and if it works for you then I'm not suggesting that you change. But I don't grasp how sorting the emails alphabetically helps to prioritize - how do you know when the Next Action on each email is due? One of the keys in the GTD system is setting Next Actions based on timeliness & importance, while not letting anything fall through the cracks.

John,

What I meant by sorting alphbetically was to help clean out the inbox, outbox, etc quickly, and getting the emails I want to save to their folders quickly. Nothing more.

D