Discussion Forum > Emails - how to fit into new system
Adele,
Would not the task be "Yesterday's Emails"? As I understand it, if you did not finish clearing all of them, you'd write it down again ie not each individual mail, but the folder which contains yesterday's emails.
Maybe it's the novelty thing, but I seemed to have got more taks done today despite 3 hours out of my office to see my accountant.
I guess if you write down something that you can't do today, you use a reminder to drag it back into your conscious, eg via a Tickler file, Outlook task reminder, whatever suits you.
Am I right, Mark?
Would not the task be "Yesterday's Emails"? As I understand it, if you did not finish clearing all of them, you'd write it down again ie not each individual mail, but the folder which contains yesterday's emails.
Maybe it's the novelty thing, but I seemed to have got more taks done today despite 3 hours out of my office to see my accountant.
I guess if you write down something that you can't do today, you use a reminder to drag it back into your conscious, eg via a Tickler file, Outlook task reminder, whatever suits you.
Am I right, Mark?
January 5, 2009 at 18:00 |
Roger J
Roger J
Adele:
No, I just put "Clear Email" as a task in the list. I usually find that I clear emails several times a day. Only if an email needs a detailed reply or further consideration or action would I make it a separate task.
No, I just put "Clear Email" as a task in the list. I usually find that I clear emails several times a day. Only if an email needs a detailed reply or further consideration or action would I make it a separate task.
January 5, 2009 at 18:01 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Roger J:
"Yesterday's emails" would be a hang-over from DIT. But as in DIT you should aim to clear *all* your emails every time you deal with them.
You can safely write down tasks that you can't do today if you will be able to do them in a couple of days. This is because in Autofocus it usually takes a few days to finish a page. If it's going to take longer before you can do them, then use a tickler or Outlook as you suggest.
"Yesterday's emails" would be a hang-over from DIT. But as in DIT you should aim to clear *all* your emails every time you deal with them.
You can safely write down tasks that you can't do today if you will be able to do them in a couple of days. This is because in Autofocus it usually takes a few days to finish a page. If it's going to take longer before you can do them, then use a tickler or Outlook as you suggest.
January 5, 2009 at 18:13 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I had a YESTERDAY folder from DIT plus a BACKLOG folder from a declared email backlog so set up three separate tasks, clear email, clear YESTERDAY folder and clear BACKLOG folder. All tasks can be actioned and relisted if appropriate - and if I am away for a period and end up with another backlog the system will easily accomodate them. By using separate Outlook folders (set to show all items) I can see at a glance how many I have still to clear.
January 5, 2009 at 18:45 |
Christine B
Christine B
I am keen to give this a try, but what is stopping me at the moment is working out how to fit incoming emails into the system. I receive many many emails every day, and one thing I liked about DIT was the fact that you could put them all in a folder for "tomorrow" and then action them all in one go the next day. With the new system, I don't want to have to enter each email onto the bottom of the list as I would practically spend my whole time doing this! Would you recommend combining the two approaches, and setting a time to go through (and action) emails each day and then add any relevant and longer term tasks to the bottom of the list?