Comments on: Hat Tricks

By: Sara

Sara — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:14:02 +0000

Emily, I’m glad they were helpful! And folks are posting their own tips, too, which is what I was hoping would happen. For instance I did not know that you can ALSO use COLORS! in addition to labels and folders, so I am now deploying them. (I wish Gmail’s available colors were prettier, though.)

By: Emily Wing Smith

Emily Wing Smith — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:36:05 +0000

Loved these tips and how manageable they all are. Sometimes I read a list of time/career-balancing tips and get confused by the second one. Thanks!

By: Sara

Sara — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:15:29 +0000

I love long blog posts! They underscore the distinction between a post and a status update. I mean, if everything you said was brief enough for Twitter, it seems that folks would have less reason to visit your main site.

That email management strategy is intriguing. I’ve always been of the “leap on it as soon as it appears” school (as though each message is a spark that must be stomped out before it starts a wildfire) but I can definitely see the value of declaring set times for inbox-scouring.

By: sara z.

sara z. — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:07:38 +0000

Ooh, good tips. I do a lot of the same, but have not availed myself of folders in gmail. I use labels for almost everything, and am constantly reminding myself to delete rather than archive stuff that is not important or archives elsewhere online.

As for undercommunicating, I’m learning to handle most email correspondence with 2-3 sentences, but my blog posts still tend to be epic in context of micro-blogging culture.

Another management approach – I used to deal with every email right away. Now I tend to let it pile up and set aside one or two largish chunks of time a week to clean it out. I read once in a time-management book not to use your inbox as a to-do list, but I don’t know if I agree with that…