Scott Cheatham’s Weblog

Email has certainly come of age. What was once a novelty ten years ago has become a communications staple for our lives. A decade ago, would you have ended a conversation with someone in the grocery store by asking them to email you later? I know I didn’t. We may have exchanged phone numbers, a street address, or perhaps made future plans but today, email communication is a vital tool in our lives. There are many reasons for this including:

• It’s instantaneous. Messages arrive immediately.
• It’s brief. You don’t have to get caught up in long phone calls or conversations.
• It’s convenient. You don’t have to worry about running to the post office or putting a stamp on a letter and then leaving it in your car for days trying to remember to drop it in the mailbox.

The problem today is that we get inundated with email. We have to sort out the “junk” that’s sent out by spammers, forwards from your well meaning friends, or advertisements from companies that you deal with online. If your inbox is like mine was, it’s cluttered with an assortment of old emails you want to keep, current messages you need to respond to, and messages you haven’t even had the chance to review yet. What stress! Before long, I had over one hundred messages taking up space in my inbox with more coming every day. Something had to be done. What follows is a simple system I use for keeping my inbox empty at all times. You read that correctly. EMPTY. It’s a system I use that incorporates the metaphor of a stoplight for sorting through every message you receive and tracking them efficiently for future execution.

Here’s what you need to do to get started…

1. Set up your email program of choice with a minimum of four new folders for filing emails. Depending on your email program, you may have the the option of color labeling (as in Gmail by Google).

2. Once you have your folders, you will name them “Red”, “Green”, “Yellow”, and “Reference”. If you have color labeling, now is the time to label them appropriately. Google doesn’t have yellow as a label color but their burnt orange works nicely for the yellow folder.

That’s it! Now, all that’s left is to sort through your inbox once and keep it empty thereafter. How do you do this? Well, here is how the metaphor of the stoplight works in sorting through your emails:

The “Red” folder is for all emails that need to be acted on quickly. Immediacy is the key here. Red means STOP. Stop what you’re doing and check this out. For me, this includes such things as emails regarding reports I have due, bills that need paid, a note from my wife to pick up something for dinner this evening! Anything that requires immediate action needs to be put in this folder.

The “Green” folder should be your main action folder. This is where all of your emails that require action, but not immediate action, should go. Green means GO and items in this folder are items that will help you achieve your long range goals, move projects ahead, and help you keep things moving so that you do not have to have too many red items. Green items are where you should spend the majority of your time when executing emails. Green items can become red items if you procrastinate on them for too long so get them out of the way early!

The “Yellow” folder should contain any emails that have action value to you but are items that can wait if need be. Yellow means CAUTION and items in this folder can become time wasters when other green and red items need your attention first. It’s not that they are meaningless items but yellow items have the ability to be put off until you have some spare time to address them.

My “Reference” folder is colored blue in my email program and contains all of the emails I may need to hang on to for future delegation, receipts, etc. Anything you may want to recall quickly should be put here. One caveat: This folder can accumulate quickly so it’s best to get into the routine of checking it at least every sixty days or so and clear out anything that no longer has value. Another take on this folder is that you can divide it into your personal and work files. For my use, I have a reference folder for my personal items and one that’s tagged with my church initials so I can place church related reference items in their places. The idea though is to simplify. Fewer folders keeps it manageable and easy to find what you need when you need it.

So how does this look in practice? I usually check my email twice a day, sometimes three times but each time I process my inbox I use this system. Here’s a hypothetical email inbox I will see on any given day:

My inbox contains twelve items, five of which are fowards from others. A couple of these are from people I trust so I may give them a casual glance. If any are worth hanging on to, I file them in reference. In this scenario, there are none so these five forwards now go bye-bye in the trash. Now I’m down to seven items.

Two of the emails are notices from companies I deal with. One is a bill and the other a coupon for a free coffee beverage (always a good item!). I file the bill in my “Red” folder and the coupon in the “Reference” folder. Five items left. First is a note from my son’s band teacher about an end of the year concert for the band. I calendar the date and time on my Google Calendar and also make a note to pick up some two-liter bottles of soda as he has requested parents to bring. I send a quick reply acknowledging the note and then delete it. Next up, a note from a friend asking me about a sermon series I preached a while back. He wants to review my ideas for a potential series in six months. I place this in my “Yellow” folder and move on. Next, I have a receipt for a video rental my wife placed a few days ago. I put this in my personal reference folder for later processing. The last two items are from my daughter asking about homework help for some testing she is doing. I calendar some times for her and send her a reply so she’ll calendar them as well. And that’s it! All items sorted, inbox empty, and easily traceable when I need them. The stoplight metaphor works beautifully.

With this system in place, it’s easy for me to track any executable items for me to place on my daily calendar. As part of my planning routine, I check the folders early in the morning and place any items from them in my calendar as I arrange my day. When they are complete, I can go back and delete them from their folders. It’s one component of my daily action planning but for email efficiency, it works great for me. If you have questions, feel free to ask and I’ll try to answer as quickly as possible.

Have fun cleaning out your inbox today!