Kill Your Email

Kill Your Email (or, be an Email Ninja) by Jinja

Some people use email well, but most are dragged down by too much. Why is this so?

If you don't mind a big inbox, please leave this presentation. If you don't use a 'To Do' list, please leave this presentation.

OK! I have two simple messages for you:
1. Your Email is not your to-do list.
2. You are the boss of your email.

Thank You!
The End
!

(If you want some more tips, I can continue.)

Do your start your day by checking your email? Why?
Don’t let your email tell you how to run your day. Your email is NOT your agenda.

Set your email to fetch once an hour.
Can you live without it?
If it’s really important, someone will call or find a way to contact you.
Working without interruptions is more efficient.
If your email checks every minute, that’s…
480 potential distractions every day.

Folders:
Process new email into
Actions
Answer
Read & Review
Project Folders - many
Archive – move old projects and emails here.
Add tasks to your to-do list / agenda. And check actions and answer regularly.
Now let’s demolish your inbox.

CLEAN OUT YOUR INBOX:
Create a folder called ‘DMZ’
(DeMilitarized Zone)
Put all your inbox emails inside. Goodbye!
New emails go into FOLDERS.

A screenshot from last evening.
I get about 50 to 100 emails a day.
Many of them I don’t touch. How?
Filters.
Mailing lists go into folders.
Some (not all) project emails go into folders.
Look for folders with new emails.
Check your email when it is convenient for you .

Delete, Delete, Delete!
Process your ‘Demiliarized Zone’ backwards from the most recent messages, and do it fast . If an email has waited for months , it can wait longer . Much can go in the archive. Use a broom, not a brush.
When in doubt, delete!
You can always ask someone
to send again. Your time
is valuable.

Advanced Email-FU
Putting a @ at the front of a folder will put it at the top of your list. Just don't put twenty at the top. A space works too.
Dare to put your social networking emails into a folder. Do they really deserve immediate action?
Be careful with free services. You get what you pay for.
Keep email addresses ready for Flickr, email-to-blog and other services.
(My ‘What’s On’ Events blog is 95% forwarded email messages.)

Use Templates for Fast Answers
Subject: Social Networking Friend Request
Hello, Here is my Internet Friend Application form.
Thanks for your interest. http:// jinja.apsara.org/friends/question_form.php
J
Subject: Request For Free Cambodia Information
Thank you for inquiring about tourism / genocide / popular culture.
My consulting rate is $50 an hour. I am prepared to forward bank details.
Regards, John Weeks
Subject: Copyright Violation (CC: Site Advertisers)
Please cease and desist from using my pictures and/or text without appropriate credit.
I will be in touch with your internet service provider regarding this illegal activity.
Yours sincerely,
John Weeks
Jinja.apsara.org
“ Cambodia’s Most Borrowed-From Blog.”

Low-Bandwith Lifestyle
You can set your email to download just the titles (‘headers’). This will allow you to delete without downloading.
(In 2001, I was sent a 5 meg attachment. In Siem Reap. My email was clogged for 3 days.)
Go to ‘server settings’ and select ‘headers only’.
Block image loading. HTML emails can contain nasty surprises. (Ask Andy Brouwer.)

Don’t over-organize! It’s tempting.
Folders and filters will not do your work for you. Now you have to follow your agenda . (It’s OK to play with email, just remember who is in charge.)
There will always be some mess in your inbox. A messy inbox or desk can mean a fertile mind. But you have the power to choose LESS MESS.

!
Merci Beaucoup.
This condensed talk interprets & borrows heavily from ‘Inbox Zero’, ‘Getting Things Done’, ‘Lifehacker’ and ‘ZenHabits’. Thanks to House32.com for tech assist.
Presentation & links will be posted at
http:// jinja.apsara.org

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Kill Your Email

by John Weeks

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