Email Like Water

I think I am a bit of a Ninja at email and many of the things here:Recap: Becoming an Email Ninja | 43 FoldersSound ok, but there is an underlying idea that email = waste of time.

Wrong.

Some email is a waste of time and some is valuable.

The art is to sort it, not postpone it, avoid it or to have email free hours or days.

I use Thunderbird and use many of the features: filters, flags, and customised Labels and "Search folders". I used to have an extension called "Message Notes" but it does not work with Thunderbird 1.5. Still hoping looking for an equivalent. The sorting happens vertically into folders and what I think of as "horozontally" by multiple tags in a variety of ways.

I apply the six GTD workflow steps. Collecting; (that is easy they just arrive). Processing; most of that is automatic using the software. Organising; doing if it is under 2 min, deleting delegating, organising includes includes linking to Address books, Mind-Maps and the Calendar and thinking about the the associated NAs and alerts reminders needed. Then there is the Reviewing Doing.

As I write this I realise there is philosophy needed to do this well, GDT is part of it, "email like water" also a notion that online communication is deeply revlolutionary for the psyche. This stuff matters.

Pile or file?

My physical file GTD setup on flickr

Discussion in GTD on Yahoogroups about the use of piles. The seemed a silly idea till I realised that my three trays are a Pile. Why not have that stuff in a File? It needs to be in your face until it is is filed so no other reminder system is need for the day to day stuff.

Why notice all this stuff… the David Allen Getting things Done craze has got me.

It is quite profound, at the basis of such practical stuff on the surface is a major impact on the psyche, for me anyway.

Mt. Lyford Week

I am up here at Mt. Lyford – working through my To Do Lists – and getting more & more to the writing phase! Not many days left though.

The bandwidth is bad here right now, around 21 kbps – so editing stuff online is out, and I am doing these last few posts via email and not looking up links. I’ll go back and tidy up. I know I will as it is in my GTD system!!

The weather has been good and I have enjoyed a few walks. More of that! Also have been very enthused & stimulated by listening to Dave Winer, Adam Curry, and many IT conversations. So will keep up the comments.

And maybe send up some audio.