Studio Non Troppo

Photo: IsaacMao

Spam is a hassle, no argument there. But many people suffer under the weight of a growing email inbox, and the messages piling up there aren’t spam. They’re emails that need answers, or emails that provide reminders of pieces of projects that need to get done, or emails that just haven’t found their way into the right folder to be filed away.

Frequently the emails there are there only because the user can’t even remember exactly what they’re about…and isn’t sure if they can be deleted safely.

I know someone who has thousands of emails in her inbox. I can’t say it makes her more productive.

Five years ago, Lawrence Lessig declared email bankruptcy because he was hopelessly behind on responding to his email.

Many others have followed suit, some simply deleting all their messages and starting again.

I must admit, I’m tempted in this direction for my university email account, where I find most crises emerge, blossom, and resolve themselves without need for any input from me. But for email accounts that relate to actual, productive work, I’ve found a less drastic solution.

Simply put, I incorporate all my email into my Getting Things Done system.

• If an email requires a response, and if it takes less than two minutes to send the response, then I deal with the email right away (assuming I have the two minutes) and then delete it or file it in my single reference folder. It takes less time and effort to deal with the email immediately than it would take to keep track of it and take care of it later.
• If the email requires an action that will take longer than two minutes, I put it in my action required folder temporarily and add it to my Getting Things Done system as necessary when I have time. Once I’ve added it to my system, I delete it or file it in my single reference folder.
• If the email will be useful for reference, I file it in my single reference folder.
• If I know I won’t need to respond or act or refer to the email later, I delete it.

On my Mac, I use the clever add-on to my Mail program, Mail Act-On, which allows me to file and mark emails with just a keystroke or two. I keep my Getting Things Done system purring along using OmniFocus and iCal. My paper filing system is in two file cabinets, my electronic filing system is DevonThink Pro Office, and my carry-along inbox is comprised of a small Scully Leather blank book and a Fisher Space Pen.

Yes, it took me a while to get Getting Things Done to this point, but the benefits are worth it. My inbox, fast as it may fill up, is usually empty by the end of the day, with everything responded to, filed, tracked for future action, or deleted.

I can’t claim perfect inner peace, but at least my email inbox isn’t standing in my way.

Photo: Redvers

Several years ago, and shortly before reading a Douglas Adams essay in which he mentioned the very same oddity, I saw for the first time the highway sign outside of Albuquerque that warned (or was it philosophizing?), “Gusty Winds May Exist.”

It’s an accidentally beautiful sign that can be found in at least three places in New Mexico. Despite its poetry, I do feel warned to put down my cellphone, soy extra vanilla latte, and electric shaver and put both hands on the wheel.

Recently, I’ve started seeing highway signs that purport to be warning signs but which actually have the effect of sending my mind off in confusing loops and starting my head shaking side to side in an unconscious statement of “no!”

Here’s the text of the diamond-shaped, orange sign:

Guardrail Damage Ahead

OK, so what am I supposed to be warned to do? Not crash into the area where the guardrail is broken? Or “yes, driver, if you’re about to crash, please pick this already damaged spot so we don’t have to make two separate repairs?”

Some things, like road signs and test results and department meetings, should be actionable. If there’s nothing I can really do in response to them, please take them away!

Photo: srboisvert

“Should” is a word I’m not too fond of. It’s not always a bad word, but in contexts such as “I should really keep trying to make this dead-end job work,” it’s a counterproductive guilt word.

Don’t weasel around with “should.” Make a decision. Act. (Or evaluate and decide not to act.)

Some people find it very easy to blog, and many do not. Personally, I find the questions of audience and purpose the most challenging.

“Why do I want to write about X in a public way?” is a question that outlasts any particular answer I give it. I ask myself that question frequently.

Sometimes, I come up with an answer that prods me forward into posting. Other times, I discover that my initial inclination to post really doesn’t have a compelling, true-ringing reason, and I do something else instead of posting. Still other times, my response to the question is simply, “why not?” and I go ahead and post.

In his blog, Michael Bloch has a post that might help you decide whether or not to start your own blog. His point? The act of starting a blog brings with it an implied promise to your blog’s readers: if someone takes the time to come read your blog, if they open themselves to a dependence on my blog (however mild), then you owe it to them not to leave them in the lurch.

Starting a blog is great. Not starting a blog is fine, too. Starting a blog and then petering out with your posting after people have become readers of your blog is something to try to avoid.