Getting Things Done in Action

One of the things that I have never been able to manage is email. However, after having successfully processed all my papers and stuff at home using GTD techniques, I have tried applying these techniques to email as well. Huge success. My email inbox is always empty. I know exactly how many emails I need to respond to, and how many emails were filed away as potential compiler bugs.

Yes, it is painful to admit: at some point I was overwhelmed by the amount of emails I got, and the work I had to do that I got into a really bad habit; every now and then, people send me an email alerting me to a potential problem in the compiler, and when I was stressed, I just copied them to a folder to process later. The problem: I never processed the folder. It had gotten to more than a hundred so emails. Combine that with a RAFT (Read, Act, File, and Toss) system I had been using: my act folder steadily grew and I never really processed that either. Consequently, I had at least two folder that were scaring me: the Act folder, and the potential bugs folder.

So I applied some of the tips and tricks from David Allen's book; I now have nine email I need to respond to, and forty potential bug emails. I should be able to get to zero by the end of this week.