I definitely recommend that everyone have/create/learn a system. It made a big difference for me when I was taught one. More time + less stress = win!

Yours is very reasonably priced and I think anyone who doesn’t have a system that works for them would benefit. I can tell from your posts and your thoughtful reply that you “get” it, and I like that you have enough flexibility in your approach to accommodate different personalities.
.-= Karilee´s last blog ..Are You Meant to Be a Manager? =-.

The system as mentioned in this post doesn’t mention delegation, but the more comprehensive product does in the sense that it would become a “Respond” message. In that sense, you can understand “respond” as a conversational prompt or a behavioral prompt, but delegation would be a part of the latter way of understanding respond.

I’m glad you have a system that works for you, though – that’s the important bit. So many of us don’t, and that’s what Email Triage tries to amend.

Thanks so much for the feedback and discussion!

I’m still, however, torn on whether email Inboxes should be cleared AT ALL any more, and I’m quite sure all email shouldn’t be read, or even opened. I find myself more efficient just not worrying about it. I delete really obvious junk, but even much of the marketing email stays. I don’t necessarily read it or feel any obligation to, but months from now if I need reference material on a topic, I can do an email search and sometimes find a useful article or contact. Whether you prefer to leave this stuff in your Inbox, or mass-drag thousands of emails to a Reference folder, overcoming the need to “clear the Inbox” can be the biggest time-saver of all. Ask yourself whether it’s really worth even scanning many emails, or deleting them, with today’s excellent search technology.

A final but important point – your system doesn’t mention delegation. I work as an Online Business Manager for companies that literally hand me chunks of their business to manage for them. Entrepreneurs who aren’t good at communications, working with staff, or creating systems, simply have me do that. I work with some brilliant Virtual Assistants who can allow an entrepreneur to pass over their customer service, or affiliate management, or other aspects of their business they don’t want to do themselves. I think it’s really important for each of us to ask where our brilliance lies, and do our work there, delegating as much of the rest as possible.

That means I use the TRAF, or (more fun but less elegant) FART system for email and such. Toss, Refer, Act, File. This allows me to get that very important delegation step in the process. Notice there’s no “Read” step at all – it’s always part of Act or Refer, but not done for all steps.
.-= Karilee´s last blog ..Reducing Office Politics =-.

@Dinah: I definitely agree with you about the check/clicky stuff. I suggest people be very careful with filters, as many people fall down precisely because stuff falls in those filters and hide away.

@Yann: Thanks, Yann!

@Mike:

For me, the worst thing about Inbox Zero is that it does tend to feed the email/twitter/rss OCD loop – when there are only a few messages, it’s easy to process them as a diversion from the important.

Monday’s post will address this – it’s something I’ve been meaning to write for a long time. Hold on, Mike! (And, as always, thanks for showing up and adding to the discussion!)

@Cindy: Yep – but with the same caveats that I mentioned in my reply to Dinah.

@Karl: You might want to check out Email Triage, as it has some specific tips for how to deal with the problem of replying. But, in general, try chipping away at one or two every time you process email; you’ve already paid the cognitive transaction fee, so you might as well do something once you’re already in that space.

I do need to use the trash more often. I just let my build up and the more popular my blog gets the harder it is to control. I just need to get rid of the crap and focus on what is really important.

A wonderful method. Thank you! Very much needed today.

That being said, I have a low enough volume of email that I haven’t given up on Inbox Zero yet – I get to the bottom at least two or three times per week. For me, the worst thing about Inbox Zero is that it does tend to feed the email/twitter/rss OCD loop – when there are only a few messages, it’s easy to process them as a diversion from the important.
.-= Mike Stankavich´s last blog ..Short Sale Auction for my Previous Home =-.

First get the easy “check-check-check-click one button/do one keystroke” stuff out of your face, then look at what actually needs more brain power.

Ideally, automate as much of that no-brainer stuff as possible through use of filters and good anti-spam solutions.