Work productivity, time management, organization, tools and tips

Merlin Mann wrote a post yesterday about fearlessly deleting emails. He says that if you can't figure out what to do with it immediately, you should seriously consider deleting it because the chances you'll go back and read it and actually do something are very small. I agree. All those undecided upon emails are obstacles blocking your laser focus on what's truly important.

I think emails are hard to delete because 1) you worry they might be important, 2) they have interesting information that you might read someday, 3) they contain information you need, sort of, but can't think of where to keep, or 4) you *should* answer them. I think they're also hard to delete because they don't take up space. Unlike piles on your desk or elsewhere in your office, which can accumulate to the point of fire danger, emails are little scraps of memory.

In his terrific book The Simplicity Survival Handbook (read a chapter here), Bill Jensen recommends deleting 75% of your email. Here is a two-part filter he suggests: the email must have a defined action and it must have a short-term deadline. If it doesn't have both those things, it's outta here. Wow. As Merlin points out, tough to do. But if you want to achieve laser focus on the important things in your life, you've got to get all that other stuff out of the way first.