[vox] No time for email?

[Don Werve]

On Oct 13, 2014, at 02:05 , Bill Kendrick <nbs at sonic.net> wrote:

> I just zapped ~2500 emails piling up from various other LUGs,
> some going back to 2005.  I apparently don't make time for email.
> In my spare moments, it's a lot easier to poke around Facebook
> and Twitter on my phone (I don't do email on my phone).
> 
> How about the rest of you?  It definitely is quieter on mailing
> lists these days, so I get the feeling it's a similar situation…

While not specific to user groups, I’ve got a pretty regimented system for keeping on top of email:

1. I triage mails twice daily, once in the morning around 9am, and again after lunch.

2. Triage breaks mail into three categories: Critical, important, interesting, or trash.

3. Critical emails get handled during triage, and are fairly rare.

4. Every day around 3-4pm, I handle all the email I marked as important. Even if the email kicks off some other work that won’t be completed, I touch base with that person and give them a status update. This email is one such example. :)

5. Interesting messages get flagged and otherwise punted.

6. If something has a deadline, or if I need a reminder, that goes into the calendar.

7. Articles or stuff to read goes into Instapaper.

8. I have canned responses for certain message types that require minimal editing — when a new subscriber signs up for my blog, I personally email them, but use a template to craft the message.

I can ignore everything but critical email on the weekends.

For the most part, this gives me a 24-hour response time on incoming mail, and I don’t think I’ve dropped the ball on following up once this year. Time-wise, I average about an hour a day on messaging, between email and various social networks.

Hope this helps. :)