I’m going to change this goal from ‘check and reply to e-mails daily & have no more than 1.000 mails pending in inbox’ to simply ‘get on top of my e-mails’.

Today I’ve moved all the e-mails older than 31. August 2009 into another folder called Inbox Old. I’ve also deactivated all the mailaccounts that are blocked ATM (coz I’m behind on bills for the domains). Leaves me with two freemail-accounts plus Xing, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace (not really using LinkeIn and Plaxo yet, will figure those accounts out later).^{Already starting to feel mega overwhelmed! Oh dear! How do other people manage their mails?}

^{Taking a deep breath.} I guess I have to be more ruthless and willing to make mistakes and lose a few important messages. So be it! Speaking of which: When I changed one of my accounts from POP to IMAP I somehow lost all the Sent Messages. Nothing I can do about that now, so no point in worrying about it. ^{Though I feel a bit funny in the tummy about it, like I’ve done something irreparable and bad!}

Anyway, I need to develop e-mail routines and integrate them into my daily routines. Next steps will be:

1. Read the Help section, perhaps I’m not using the program efficiently
2. Google for advise on how to handle e-mails best
3. Review the folders I file things in
   – Do they make sense?
   – Do I need more/less?
4. Check mails daily (cherry-pick)
5. Make it a habit to empty my Inbox by the evening
   – File/delete all mails of the day away
   – Use the Sent Messages folder for follow-ups
   – Figure out Qs to ask myself to help me decide what to do with each mail
6. Create an Unsubscribe folder & file all crap mails there that are not spam (spend once a week unsubscribing)
7. File mails away daily
8. Delete as many mails daily as possible (be ruthless!)
9. Cancel all Google Alerts I’m not really checking (anymore)