Getting things done is one of the concepts introduced by life hacking (where programmers apply productivity paradigms they encounter while programming to real life).

Truth be told I tried GTD but I found that it stymied my productivity. I spent most of my time running around trying to GTD instead of GTD. I recently read an article on Havard Business that said you should have 3 ‘inboxes’:

• Follow Up – Stuff you need to follow up soon.
• Hold – Stuff you are waiting for.
• Archive – Important information you need to keep.

On top of that you should do quick responses immediately. It’s a great concept: but my email volume is too high for even that (I would spend my life sorting my inbox). I go for a slightly hybrid approach. I won’t be giving a click-through tutorial here: rather a broad overview.

1. Create a folder for Archive.
2. Create a folder for Pend (stuff that doesn’t fall under one of the others automatically).
3. If you have any existing filters keep them – only move the target under the appropriate folder (e.g. my “Source=Someone in the Company” folder is under Pend, mailing lists go under Archive).
4. Create two categories (Hold and Follow Up).
5. Assign hot-keys to the categories.
6. Create search folders for those categories.
7. Drop those search folders into your favourite folders.

You now have hot-keys for to categorise things and views for those categories.

Email becomes manageable again!