Ed was enjoying his new found freedom. Of the 92 people he emailed to
let them know he was deleting all his messages, only 1 responded
negatively. He decided it was definitely worth it.
He was talking to his co-worker, Mark, about it a couple of days later.
Hey Mark, how ya doin?
Can't complain. Even if I did, nobody would listen. I thought it was pretty cool what you did.
Yeah, thanks. I feel lighter now. Like a big weight has been kicked off my shoulders.
So how's it goin since the big day?
It's goin okay but I'm a little scarred?
Why, did a lot of people complain?
No, not really, it's just that I'm not sure I can keep it from happening again. Mark, I've already got over a hundred messages in my Inbox and I really have been trying to deal with them as they come in. How about you, what do you do?
I use folders. I try to move what I can to folders and then I check them later.
That's what I've been doing but I've got like 47 folders already. Is that too many
No way, man, I've got over 100. The busier you are, the more folders you need.
On Thursday of the second week after Ed declared Email Emancipation, he had 61 folders and 327 messages in his Inbox. He was feeling better but not that much better. The elation from that first day had faded and he was starting to dread looking at his Inbox again. About 3, he went to the break room and got another cup of coffee. He sat down at his desk and sipped. Thank God for coffee, he thought. When all of the sudden, a face appeared on his monitor. It startled him so bad he spilled coffee on his khakis. Then the image started speaking and he started looking around to see who else was around. Nobody was nearby. Then he recognized the voice: the email angel.
I've come to give you the next step.
I thought you guys just showed up in dreams, when did you start showing up in computers?
We go where we need to go.
So why are you here?
You are ready for the next step.
The next step? I thought this was a one shot deal.
No, your journey out of hell will have many steps.
The first one helped but I don't seem to be that much better off. Why don't you just tell me all the steps and I'll do them.
Because this way is better.
Okay, email angel, what's the next step?
Your friend, Mark, said folders, he was right, and he was wrong. The busier you are, the simpler your system needs to be. Reduce your folders to four: Action, Follow Up, Reference, and Someday / Maybe. Go ahead and create them now.
The angel's face faded away and Ed created his folders. He about spilled the rest of his coffee when the angel reappeared.
Would you like to know more?
Sure.
All of your messages should go in one of those four folders. If you need to do something, put the message in Action. If you are waiting for something from someone else, file it in Follow Up. For those you think you will need to take a look at later, put it in Reference. And for those you think you might need later, put them in Someday / Maybe.
Okay, but how am I going to find stuff with so few folders.
Ed, you need to use Desktop Search. That way you can just type a few words in a search and see all the messages that contain those words.
Wow . . . I've never heard of that.
Just ask Jinny in IS and she will set it up for you.
With that, the angel faded from view.
Ed thought to himself, "Fewer Folders for Faster Filing and less Fuss". That's kind of catchy. He liked it so much that he wrote it down and posted it on the wall of his cube. He was so happy with himself and his new found insight from the angel that he forgot all about the huge coffee stain on his pants.
In Chapter 3, Ed continues his journey and learns how to speed up how he processes his emails.
The folders idea and many others in this book are drawn from David Allen's classic, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
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