Email: Archive It All. Immediately.
A week ago, I came home after a long night of drinking and wanted to vomit. It wasn’t the whiskey. It was the email.
I had been gone approximately 6 hours at an event and subsequent after-party. I didn’t check my email the entire time. When I came home, I had over 50 new emails in my inbox (this doesn’t include the ones I automatically archive thanks to Gmail filters). 50-some emails all of which I needed to take action on in some form or another.
Fuck.
Undoubtedly aided by the aforementioned drinks, I hit “Select All” and debated hitting “Delete”. Not just for those 50-some emails. But for all 50,000+ that were sitting un-archived in my inbox. Then I thought better of it. Instead, I hit “Archive”.
Best thing I’ve ever done.
WRONG. This is the email equivalent of stuffing all your junk in a closet and closing the door and proclaiming your house clean. “Out of sight, out of mind” does not equal organization.
If you want to be on top of your email, organize your email as it comes in. File away messages as you deal with them, leaving only emails you need to respond to in your inbox.
