How to Organize Your Email with 7 Simple Folders
Jul 24th, 2007 Filed Under: Geek Speak, Productivity
Trouble with Spam
Some of us get a lot of spam, but it really hasn’t been too much of a problem for me because I use a free web-based email service, and their spam filters are really good. I watch the numbers on my spam folder go up, up, up – then, on a day when I’m feeling particularly spunky, I click the “empty” button and say bye-bye to all those unwanted distractions without so much as even opening the folder to see what they are about. I realize, of course, that this is a bit risky, because occasionally, a real email gets sent to the spam folder. That’s why I don’t empty it every day. A time or two, I’ve been made aware that someone has emailed me something that I never got. That’s the only time I open my spam folder – to search for a real email that has been unduly sentenced to life in the spam folder. But that’s a rare occasion, and it certainly doesn’t warrant me spending my time sorting through all that junk.
For those pieces of spam that slip through the filter and land in my inbox, I have a zero-tolerance policy. I have no problem whatsoever clicking the “Report as Spam” button to let my email provider know that someone has outwitted their anti-spam software. If the sender info is empty or unfamiliar or if the subject is suspicious – away it goes!
The Real Problem
No, spam wasn’t my real problem. All the stuff I wanted to keep was the real problem. After nearly ten years of receiving sentimental notes, receipts, shipping notices, and action items, I had an inbox that was no longer user-friendly. The solution was, as it often is, to get organized! I needed a plan that would work long-term and was easy to understand (therefore easy to use). Often, when we try to organize, we get too detailed, and that leads to system failure. If we can’t quickly and easily use our organizational system, we will allow things to pile up again.
The Simple Solution
After reading an article about productivity, I was inspired to tackle the heaps and mounds of emails that were cluttering my inbox. I came up with a simple filing system that consists of seven folders (or tags, or labels, or whatever your email program calls it). Here are my folders and their descriptions:
- Action – anything that needs to be done soon, but can’t be done right this minute.
- Someday – anything that you would like to do someday, but isn’t a pressing issue (e.g. an article about a place you’d like to visit or a DIY project you’d like to try).
- Waiting For – anything that requires action or input from someone else before it is complete (e.g. a notice saying you purchase has been shipped).
- Receipts – receipts for items purchased via the internet.
- Sentimental – personal notes that have inspired or encouraged you.
- Quotes – quotes, poems, lyrics that you would like to refer back to sometime.
- Archive – anything that doesn’t fit into the other folders, but you don’t want to delete.
Keeping your inbox empty is a snap when you use this system, and finding what you need takes only a quick click on the proper folder. It doesn’t take a lot of extra effort – just choose a label (or folder) for each email after you’ve read it – and away it goes!
Keeping it real,
Tags: email, geek_speak, getting_organized, internet, Productivity, spam
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