2. Out with the Familiar.
Make the new way easier than the old way, or at least as easy. When you think something is easy, it’s often just because it’s become a habit. What seems like a confusing series of steps to one person is easy to someone who’s been doing it awhile.
You've probably heard people say, “Oh, it’s easy! You just A and B and then C. Then you D, E and F and you’re done!” Yeah, right. If you decide to use email folders, you have to choose names for them, decide when to look in them and in what order and have a criteria for purging them. The set up may take a little time, but once you're accumstomed to using it, it will seem easy and simple.
Don’t handle your email for a whole day (or longer, depending on how much you get). Then, keep track of how long it takes to process it when you do it all at once. I can promise you it will take longer than you think.
It will take longer not only because there will be more quantity, but you’ll have to make more decisions, have to backtrack to follow threads that will affect your decisions and may have to revise action you’ve already taken based on new information in the email. Decisions that would have been almost instantaneous now take longer because you have to get back up to speed on the situation.
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