ENelson;48663 said:
I currently have 2900+ "unread" emails...I subscribe to several news subscriptions that I try to read often, and of course, all the other emails that either relate to projects, NAs, etc..... Help! How and where do I begin?
Here's where you begin.
These handy links to (blessedly short) articles (the second is a series of about 6 or 8 articles) from the Magical Merlin Mann of 43 Folders fame give you lots of good email tricks. Read them and think as you go.
http://www.43folders.com/2005/02/18/quick-tips-on-processing-your-email-inbox/
http://www.43folders.com/izero/
http://www.43folders.com/2006/07/18/email-wait/
A couple of thoughts from me:
1) When do you think you'll have time to read all of those 2900 unread emails? If you plan to read them, schedule a time, or blocks thereof. If you can't imagine ever having enough time, then let them go. If you can't bring yourself to delete, then drop them in an archive folder: if you still haven't read them in x weeks or months, delete them and unsubscribe, because clearly these lists are not that important for you.
2) Oh, hell, I'd unsubscribe from a lot anyway. I once subscribed to a whole bunch of lists in a fit of enthusiasm, and they just mounted up and I never got around to reading them. Delete, unsubscribe, and the world's a happier place.
3) Once you've dumped those 2900 somewhere, process your Inbox to zero
every day. Use the standard GTD processing to do it, delegate it, defer it, or drop it.
4) Check your email at most once or twice a day. Really. Leave it alone the rest of the time and get on with your real work. Unless you're on the response team, nothing gets that urgent.
Hope that helps.