Comments for Cartoon: Inbox Overload

Cartoon: Inbox Overload

2009-05-24T08:15:57Z

Oh, how I'd like to be Merlin Mann... master of the email demons, wizard of the inbox. (Also, brilliant and funny as hell.) He has a methodology for taming the beasts that lurk inside Gmail, Outlook, Entourage, Thunderbird and Eudora, and his gleaming, empty inbox serves as a beacon of hope to all that it might be possible for you, too.

Of course, knowing something's possible is a double-edged sword... at least, for those of us procrastinators who have yet to find the time to become inbox black-belts. (Yes, yes... the investment of time now will more than pay for itself in future productivity. Thanks for the tip. Now please look up the word "procrastinator.")

]]> That strikes especially close to home for me, because I'm married to someone with her own methodology... and with a yawning void on her computer that nature intended to be filled with unread messages from relatives of deposed rulers hoping to shift around a few million dollars.

If you've managed to scour your email client clean, what was your trick? Let us know by leaving a comment... or a tweet... anything but email.

More Noise to Signal

Comment from Paul Gardner on 2009-05-24

2009-05-24T08:46:16Z

I know the feeling. For years I've been trying to find a way to achieve stuff with a crazy in-box (both electronic and physical).

At last I stumbled on eProductivity. Now I operate with empty in-boxes and even though I'm a procrastinator, it works so well (in conjunction with GTD - Getting Things Done) that I do actually get on top of things and do really important stuff as well!

I've chronicled my experiences (starting here) and you'll note that my email in-box started with 181 unread emails. Unread because there were well over 1,000 emails in the in-box and I couldn't have told you at the time how many were acted upon at all!

Comment from Windowslogy on 2009-05-24

2009-05-24T08:47:52Z

Seriusly, inbox overload can be a headache for me especially if I have to filter all those email messages one by one. It's a nightmare for every one, I guess. The spam filters that email account providers give are not always effective. :((

Comment from rampantheart on 2009-05-24

2009-05-24T10:24:07Z

Whenever I am overwhelmed by the inbox overload, I make sure I archive them first so that I don't have to see the number of messages I have to read. It becomes a real pain when you get a truckload of mails when people follow you on SNS. A social media animal that I am, I at least get about 15 mails a day from web 2 services. To create a permanent solution, I started using another email id. But the problem has only worsened. Thankfully, I am a prolific user of Gmail labels which helps me stay sane.

I have decided to use Google apps for my domains and well, after say about 3 or 4 months, I might start sulking again.

Comment from ITrush on 2009-05-24

2009-05-24T10:24:27Z

Wow, that's a lot.. hope I don't get that much also.

Comment from Samuel Sandeen on 2009-05-24

2009-05-24T10:36:19Z

I just read things and archive them quickly

Comment from Michael on 2009-05-24

2009-05-24T11:56:01Z

1. Assign priority (low,medium,high).

2. (Based on priority): READ (really - not just browse) and then... a:Delete b:Respond c:Take action (f.ex. convert to task) or d:Archive (applies to b+c as well).

3. CLOSE e-mail stuff (programs,webmail etc.). All of them. Only open+check 3-5 times/day. This will not bring inboxes to zero, but it will leave a helluva lot of time to be more productive...

Thanks for the interesting links in the article.

//Michael.

Comment from Devin Johnstonton on 2009-05-24

2009-05-24T16:35:29Z

I use Gmail. My strategy is that I archive anything that I might need to reference later (addresses, dates of events, instructions) and delete everything else as soon as I've dealt with it. It keeps my Inbox close to empty and puts me in a zen-like state of email freedom.

Comment from rosewater on 2009-05-24

2009-05-24T16:53:24Z

Read what mr. 4 Hour Workweek says on information overload

Comment from Nate St. Pierre on 2009-05-24

2009-05-24T18:08:48Z

I use my own variation of the Getting Things Done method on the Inbox, bringing that beast down to zero every couple days or so, and then I work mostly from a small set of about 5 subfolders containing various tasks to do. It works well if you keep up with the system, but if you don't, you're then left with 6 places full of tasks to do . . . ack!

Comment from Marshall Kirkpatrick on 2009-05-24

2009-05-24T18:23:05Z

I have 103k unread emails and am far from the edge of a window! :)

Comment from vanessa on 2009-05-24

2009-05-24T18:56:54Z

I have 3 email acct. and I keep them all 3 clean keep what I might need latter and read ,re. or just delete the rest.If you cheek them daily then the wont get out of hand.

Comment from pornoizle on 2009-05-24

2009-05-24T21:52:50Z

Comment from Dans on 2009-05-24

2009-05-25T05:18:56Z

broad and meaningful description, and thank you broad ideas for the mysterious

Comment from Engago team on 2009-05-25

2009-05-25T07:55:43Z

Reading and answering all the emails is not always the main problem, retrieving them afterward is.
The CRM you use should collect the emails by company (leads and clients and ex-customers).

Comment from Dmitri Eroshenko, Relenta on 2009-05-26

2009-05-26T17:59:24Z

Forgive me for tooting my own horn, but I got fed up with inbox overload (and data fragmentation to boot) years ago and created Relenta. My inbox has been clean as a whistle ever since.

There are only 4 Ds that you can do with email:

Deal
Delete
Delegate
Delay

Relenta handles all of these Ds by design, no hacking required.

Comment from Rappers on 2009-07-26

2009-07-26T15:36:47Z

I have decided to use Google apps for my domains and well, after say about 3 or 4 months, I might start sulking again.

Comment from Hiphop on 2009-07-26

2009-07-26T15:37:54Z

Forgive me for tooting my own horn, but I got fed up with inbox overload (and data fragmentation to boot) years ago and created Relenta. My inbox has been clean as a whistle ever since.

There are only 4 Ds that you can do with email:

Deal
Delete
Delegate
Delay

Relenta handles all of these Ds by design, no hacking required.