Setting up email folders

[debbieg]

I currently have folders set up in outlook for email processing. I have @Action, @Read.Review, and @waiting for.

This morning I was reading David Allens article on "overtime". It mentions an @Computer folder. Is that just another word for my @Action folder? or should the email folders mirror the same lists I have in my notebook?

When setting up the general reference file in outlook, do those folders go under the INBox catagory? Do you set up one folder for A, B, C, or just a folder by topic that outlook then alphabatizes?

Thanks for your tips!

DebbieG

 

[ellobogrande]

DebbieG,

I'm a fellow Outlook user myself. I didn't read the article that you mentioned in your post, but it sounds like it may have been a typo. In my e-mail system I have an @Action folder but I also have an @Computer context list under Tasks. I've never heard of an @Computer folder before; he may have meant @Action.

If all I need to do is reply to the e-mail message but it's going to take longer than 2 minutes, I move it to the @Action folder. E-mail from friends to which I want to reply falls under this category.

If the message requires some other form of action then I use my context lists. For example, when I get an automated notification that my credit card statement is available online, I add "Pay credit card bill" to my @Computer list, and I toss the e-mail. If the e-mail needs to be kept as support material, I keep it in a folder called "@Action Support", and I clean out this folder during weekly reviews.

I create folders under Inbox for my general reference materials the same way that I do for my paper filing system--one folder per topic, person, or project. Outlook automatically alphabetizes the list. That works best for me.

I hope this helps.