New York Times Article Summary

Email guilt: It’s just another one of our 21st century technology guilts residing near texting at the dinner table and blackberries on vacation. How do we deal with the email piling up in our inboxes and why does it make us feel so bad in the first place? There may be no answer to the second part of that question, but New York Times online writer Farhad Manjoo has written an article describing his own system that may help out those of us trying over and over to get to that elusive empty (or at least almost empty!) inbox.

Manjoo says forget the color-codes, flags, and folders most of us have warred with and lost to. Claiming that any system requiring too much maintenance is bound to fail, he gives a few simple tips some GTD fans may recognise. Manjoo credits David Allen and “43 Folders” blogger Merlin Mann as the inspiration for his simple four-step system:

First, devote a hard chunk of time to clearing your inbox out completely. This step hurts the most, but force yourself to archive old messages, respond to those from the last month or later, and delete all other unnecessary mail. Once that has happened, Manjoo explains how to actually keep the inbox pristine through his archive, respond, forward, or hold for later method.

It seems to work well for him and the article is a worthy read for anyone desperate for some inbox relief.

Click here to read Farhad Manjoo’s article:

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