Get Things Done: Email at effective web ministry notes

Get Things Done: Email

filed under GTD by rob on 04Mar07 @ 2:38 pm EST

There is a movement amongst us started by David Allen. If that name doesn’t register with you, don’t sweat it. He’s the guy that has re-introduced the world to the concepts of how to get things done. CNN.com interviewed him recently about how Cutting through the clutter to get things done works.

I have a lot to say on this stuff, but I don’t know where to start, or if I’ll keep up a series of getting things done (GTD). So I decided to start (and maybe finish) with how I get my email inbox to Zero (no email) consistently.

I’ve decided whenever an email comes into my inbox, I do one of three things with it:

Reply it
Task it
File it

Here’s how I decide which of the three options get applied to each email:

Reply it: Can I reply to this email and take care of it in less than 2 minutes? Then reply.
Task it: Do I need to do something about this email later? Or do I need to reply to this later?
File it: I don’t need to do anything with this email but should hold onto it.

To help me flow through this efficiently, I have folders set up in Outlook (or you could use tags in Gmail, etc) for filing. Usually these are project based. That takes care of the filing.

But most of the time I find I have emails coming in that takes me time to decide if I should reply now or later. So I’ve created a new folder called ‘ccSubs’. This folder is for any subscription I’ve signed up for that I know I can read later. It’s also for any email I’m in the “cc” field. My thought is if it’s just copied to me, I don’t need to deal with it right now.

Setting up an automatic rule to sort the subscriptions and cc fields to push them all into one folder is nice. I clear out that folder a couple times a day, but I know it’s probably nothing pressing. I can get them done later.

That saves just the emails that I need to do something with in my inbox. Now it’s just deciding if I should reply now or do something later. If I need to task it to reply or do something later, I’ve learned a nice little shortcut in Outlook. If I right-click and drag the email to the task bar, I get an option to move the email as an attachment. This is great because it clears it out of my inbox AND keeps the email in the task. When I open the task, I open the email attachment and can reply right there.

My goal is daily and often more than that get my inbox to Zero. If it is, that means I’ve either gotten things done, or I’ve set up time later to get it done.

Do you have any GTD email tips?

One Response to “Get Things Done: Email”

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1 Maggie on Mar 6th, 2007 said:

I automatically have many things send to certain folders upon arrival. For example, airplane ticket sale ads. I don’t need them, don’t need to look at them except once every two years or so, but if you need one handy…you just need it.

So, I have a folder called “air travel”…any subscriptions that come to that folder are automatically set “marked as read” by Outlook so that they do not appear to be “desk clutter”, but they are there filed neatly if I need them, and when they are outdated, I simply go to the folder, click SELECT ALL|DELETE.

I also send mail from special friend to folders. I keep them “marked as unread” (right click) until I answer. That say, when I sit down and have time to type, their folder is bolded because of the “unread mail” (which I’ve read).

My goal is no bolded folders.

Here’s another great trick: Weather gets sent automatically to my “deleted mail” folder, and I’ve set all my deleted mail folder to purge as I exit Outlook. If I go check mail and want to see local weather forecast, I click on the bolded “Deleted Items” folder. Since it comes three itmes a day, I don’t have to move it or delete a lot of redundant mail.

Well, that was a mouthful. I love email folders!