I heard somewhere that the average office worker gets around 300-500 emails per week. That much email can amount to around 20 office hours per week sorting and putting into folders. And even with all those hours trying to regain your inbox you’re still lost when you try to look for that e-mail from that guy you don’t remember what name was. Sounds familiar? Back when I used Yahoo as my primary email address that was me.
Sorting is comforting for at least 3 reasons:
- it gives you something to do
- you feel like you have accomplished something (seeing all those folders and subfolders)
- you feel secure (because you think you will be able to find everything later)
But if you take a step back, this behavior is a bit obsessive/compulsive don’t you think? (I’ve even worked at an office that printed all email correspondence and organized it into physical folders that lined the walls of the office in chronological order. Sounds crazy? Well, by sorting into folders you are doing the exact same thing except just a bit kinder on the environment.)
There must be a better way.
Some have proposed easy ways to manage to this foldering and sorting including the famous Inbox Zero, tips from Lifehacker and a gazillion other posts scattered around the Internet. But they all aim at making you BETTER at sorting and foldering. How about that?
A company I work for has recently begun implementing Google Apps for it’s employees in order to cut back on Microsoft licensing costs. I thought it was a very brave move. For the past week I have been watching my co-workers and even my boss not just give up their folder comfort, but really having to jump into the deep end with both feet and hoping they won’t drown. And off course they didn’t! Google (or Gmail) is an email client unlike others. It is not based on sorting and foldering, in fact if you are using Gmail you shouldn’t really have ANY folders whatsoever. That means no sorting, no drag&drop, no creating folders, no organizing.
How on earth? The answear: You search.
The methodology behind Inbox Zero works perfectly in Gmail because you simply archive your inbox after you have read your posts. But you never do any sorting. There are also other features like Starring posts and labeling that come in handy to create a visual overview of your inbox (mark important items as red, flag posts for follow up etc.). Did I mention that Gmail is not only priceless, but also free? And you can use your own email address (you@yourdomain.com). (I feel I should mention that Gmail and I have been in a commited relationship for 5 years and he has never let me down.)
Alternatively…
You can also go about this by just stopping this compulsive sorting behavior for each and every message that arrives in your inbox. Rethink the whole situation, liberate yourself and most of all stop worrying about organizing and filing and sorting all your mail!
If my opening numbers are correct stopping this sorting madness can save you up to 20 working hours per week! Imagine what you could do with all that time!
Sorting is for me the way they used to do it back in the days. In 2010 our software should be good enough to set us FREE from overstuffed inboxes.
What do you think?
Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere.
