We are definitely in the information age. While it can be wonderful to have the resources of the web at your fingertips twenty-four hours a day, it can also lead to major information overload. After all, there is a whole world of information out there but we were not designed to be able to take all of it on board at once. One area that can definitely lead to that feeling of drowning is email. Hundreds of messages can pour into our in box every day, each one screaming to be looked at. However while this can lead to a feeling of drowning, in a rather odd contrast it also encourages us to look for more. “I must just check mail”, “I wonder if anyone has got anything interesting for me”.

The article I have linked to below puts forward the idea that we are not really meant to multi-task and in fact operate less efficiently when we do. Email is the ultimate distractor, popping up that you have ‘new mail’ when you are engrossed in another task will inevitably mean you thinking I’ll just take a moment to look at that. Even if you only end up reading the message and not needing to act on it, it has taken you away from what you were doing, distracted your brain which has turned off one set of thoughts and possibly set off down another track.
One of the tips in the article is to only check mail at 11am, 1pm and 4pm. Well since I usually have my lunch around 1pm, I’m going to make that 11am, 2pm and 4pm and see how it goes.
Here’s how I organise my email to try and make it more efficient when I do look at it! I use the Mac Mail program but any of the points mentioned below could be used in any email program.

1. Set up a good junk mail filter and train it. It won’t just work with full effectiveness on its own. It needs to know which mail is junk and which isn’t. And even then you will need to keep an eye on it but it will help a lot.

2. Use folders to file your mail (but beware of over-filing see note below)

3. Set up rules to file your messages automatically (and name your rules so that you can easily edit them, don’t leave them with the default name New Rule 1 or you will have to click through each one to find out what it does.

4. Only keep messages you really need to keep. I keep emails that confirm I have joined a list, and how to unsubscribe, for example.

5. Have a Dealt With folder and once you have read a message and don’t need to take any further action on it then put it into Dealt With. You can leave it there for a while so if you need to go back to it you can. See deleting messages further down.

6. Don’t start too many folders. I only start a folder for a project or for a different mail account if I want to know what is coming into that account. If you receive lots of message from Harry, he doesn’t really need his own folder unless he is part of a project. You can always find Harry’s messages in your In Box or Dealt With box by sorting the listing (click on the title at the top to sort by subject, date etc.)

7. Every few months, weed all your mail folders. I usually keep no more than six months worth of mail in my Dealt With folder.

8. Mail in Trash and Junk should be cleared much more regularly. There is no point in keeping trash or junk.

9. Be ruthless. A message from your friend that just says ‘hi, how are you today’ doesn’t need filing - throw it away (after you’ve responded, otherwise they may be offended!)

10. Don’t forget to clear your Sent mail folders too.

11. Keeping you mail folders clear helps your server space too.

An interesting view on why multi-tasking should not be our main aim in life