Re:Email is like Tetris: you lose eventually
by shutter on Monday February 02, 2009 @05:03PM
(#462969)
No, you can win e-mail tetris without cheating.
You must decide for yourself which action your e-mails require: Trash, Defer, or Action. GTD gets this right.
If you don't make those decisions as e-mail enters your box, you're effectively saying (while playing tetris) "I'm going to ignore all of the L-shaped blocks and deal with the wreckage they leave behind later." Yeah, you'll lose. You have to make a decision on _every_ piece that drops into your inbox.
Filters can do wonders, if you really do have a huge influx of mail. You don't have to read and respond to every message unless you really want to.
You must decide for yourself which action your e-mails require: Trash, Defer, or Action. GTD gets this right.
If you don't make those decisions as e-mail enters your box, you're effectively saying (while playing tetris) "I'm going to ignore all of the L-shaped blocks and deal with the wreckage they leave behind later." Yeah, you'll lose. You have to make a decision on _every_ piece that drops into your inbox.
Filters can do wonders, if you really do have a huge influx of mail. You don't have to read and respond to every message unless you really want to.