Ed's first visit from the Email Angel was about 5 months in the past.
Things were going so much better it was hard for him to even remember
how stressed out he had been over email.
Lately, though he noticed a disturbing pattern: he was forgetting to check his folders and as a result, sometimes he would forget to do things. It wasn't as bad as it had been but it still bothered him. It was irritating and embarrassing to get a call about a meeting 10 minutes after it started. Even worse was the time he forgot about a party his wife had told him about and scheduled a golf match with a friend instead.
He was thinking about these things as he drifted off to sleep that night.
In his dream, he was on the beach enjoying the sound of the waves and the wind. He was watching a little boy in a red bathing suit play with sand. For some reason he was drawn to the fact that the little boy was dumping sand out of one bucket and putting it into three smaller buckets.
After a while, the Email angel sat down next to him.
How are you doing Ed?
Pretty good.
That little boy is the answer to the question you were thinking about.
What do you mean?
The way he's moving the sand is the way you should move your emails.
But angel, you told me 4 buckets was the way to go.
Has some sand been falling through the cracks?
Yes.
At the time, you were not ready for 3 buckets, only 4.
Tell me more.
The problem with the four buckets is that you have to make sure to look at them at the right time. Although it's better than having them all in your Inbox, you have to remember to check them. You are human and so sometimes you forget. Also, it adds stress to have to remember.
Ed, the first thing you need to do is put all the messages that you need to keep but that don't require action into one folder called Reference.
But how will I find the messages?
Ed, how often do you need to find a message?
Not very often.
Also, you can use Desktop Search to find the ones you do need. It's much better than looking through folders. Get Randy, in the computer department to install it for you.
Okay, so what are the other two buckets?
All of your other messages will be moved to Calendar or Tasks. Make sure you find the keyboard shortcut that will allow you to move the whole message including attachments to these places.
For items that have to be done at a specific time, move them to Calendar.
For other items, move them to Tasks and assign them a due date. This due date can be when the item is actually due or when you want to look at it again.
Anything else?
No, that's it for today.
Who's going to win the world series?
That's not my department.
Thanks so much for your help.
Ed went to work the next day and began to do what the angel suggested. At first, it was hard and even awkward. His program required him to right-click and drag to move messages to Calendar or Tasks. He was surprise that in about a week he was actually starting to like this new system and he was missing fewer appointments and deadlines.
He thought "I guess the angel really does know what he's talking about".
In Chapter 5, Ed gets a promotion and a new tool.
The idea of moving messages to Calendar and Tasks comes from my favorite book on Outlook, Linenberger's
Total Workday Control Using Microsoft Outlook: The Eight Best Practices of Task and E-Mail Management
