Comments for sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/the-thrill-of-victory

Comment #1591

2008-10-19T00:27:20Z

[Groan] And going away again after only two weeks at home has taken its toll, too: Inbox 61, Awaiting Action 86. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

Comment #1590

2008-09-26T12:21:52Z

Aaargh. Being away from home for over a month definitely plays havoc with the system. Inbox=96, Awaiting Action=47. :(

Still, it's much better than if I hadn't taken my computer with me.

Comment #1589

2008-07-31T17:30:34Z

AA down to 18, Inbox empty! Now to attend to other neglected things....

Comment #1588

2008-07-30T11:09:28Z

It has been slightly over two months, and I can report great success...until now. Being on vacation for two weeks definitely threw a spanner into the works. My inbox is at a manageable six, but Awaiting Action has spilled slightly over one page with 45. Still, I'm not worried, as I hope to be able to whittle that down fairly quickly now that I'm home, and the situation would be much, much worse had I not been able to attend to many of the e-mails while on the road.

Comment #1587

2008-05-10T13:49:30Z

No one's holding my feet to the fire on this, but I'll write an update anyway, for me if no one else. It's been two months, and so far I'm pleased with the system. I even started occasionally using my inbox as a to-do list, sending myself e-mails about jobs I wanted to get to, knowing I would work extra hard to keep the inbox clear.

Recently I almost lost it, though, with both the Awaiting Action folder and the inbox getting dangerously close to needed a smaller font to stay on one page. It's amazing how the problem snowballs (an expression left over from my Northern days). I received a few e-mails that I couldn't deal with right away, and yet which I thought were too important even to move to the out-of-sight Awaiting Action folder. That was a mistake, because losing the visual effect of an empty inbox broke the system, and e-mails that I previously would have dealt with within a day began piling up. An effort of will over the past couple of days brought things back under control, with the inbox empty and the AA folder down to 20. Unfortunately, the latter is not likely to get much smaller any time soon, because of the amount of work involved in the remaining items, but that's okay, that's what the folder is for. When I keep the actual inbox empty, I find I have more incentive to work on the AA folder as well.

I'll check in again in another two months....

Comment #1586

2008-03-12T16:00:15Z

"keep your font smaller", nice.

I wondered how you could possibly have an empty inbox, but now I can understand, with the awaiting action folder, definitely cheating.

I leave everything in my inbox, and I do try to keep it on one page (only 37 emails on my laptop screen - I think I had a chance when I used the desktop more). I am currently failing miserably with 83 emails... First email is from October 2004, I do really intend to write back eventually...

Comment #1585

2008-03-11T17:28:51Z

If you can't keep it under one page, take a hint from the pros: make your font smaller. ;-)

Comment #1584

2008-03-11T17:17:17Z

I have a folder called "revisit" for e-mail that doesn't require immediate action but I should probably get back to eventually. It never happens. It now has about 100 messages dating back to 2004.

But I do clear my inbox from time to time.

Comment #1583

2008-03-11T16:39:41Z

He certainly helped. I figure if HE can keep an empty inbox....

Comment #1582

2008-03-11T15:43:22Z

So was it Randy Pausch that inspired you?

I watched his time management lecture, but have not yet watched his full "Last Lecture".