[ScooterInTheSticks]

Blog : Scooter in the Sticks
Author : Steve Williams

Manage Email, Manage Life, Ride More



Have you ever wished you had more time?

Two days ago I sat at my computer searching for an email I missed. Scrolling back and forth through my inbox it occurred to me (again) that I spend a lot of time "working" on email. And the more I "work" the less I seem to get done. Email gets in the way of me getting better or more involved in important things. At least the way I was handling it.

Embracing a need for professional and personal development I visited the 43folders Web site. It was here that I first learned of my trusty Hipster PDA, another completely functional asset for day-to-day living. Arriving at the homepage I saw the words "Email Eating You Alive?" along with an invitation to watch 43folders author Merlin Mann's recent talk at Google on how to tame the beast. His talk is called InBox Zero.

I've embedded the video below but before you get to that I wanted to share some quick statistics. When I started the video I had almost 9000 messages in my inbox. A paralyzing mix of messages from the past couple years representing a mix of indecision, procrastination, lack of attention, and inability to do anything but collect more and more. The only hope was for some cataclysmic email server failure that would deliver a reborn email world.

One hour after I finished the video I had zero messages in my inbox. I had successfully deleted over 6000 messages that were absolutely and utterly without worth. The remaining messages were moved to the DMZ and I had put in place a method of taking action on email, made a commitment to keeping the inbox as empty as I do the mailbox in front of my house, and following something that many others have suggested before -- I turned email off and check it only a couple times a day. It isn't instant messaging after all.

I've only been doing this a couple days now but I have to say it is a remarkable experience to see an inbox with only a handful of messages to deal with. And turning it off has meant I actually had time to work. Make things. Figure things out. Create. Contribute. Earn my keep. And ride more too.

If you think you might have a problem with email, if like me at one point find yourself checking email on your Blackberry in the middle of the night when you got up to go to the bathroom telling yourself how lucky your employer was to have such a dedicated employee, them maybe you should invest an hour to watch Merlin Mann's presentation.

So without further ado I give you Merlin Mann...





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