I use Gmail with context labels: “actionable” – mail I can (and should) do something about right away.
“followup” – mail I have to respond to asap. “waiting_for” – people I am waiting on a reply or an action from (I also use this to track package shipments, for example).
“on_the_radar” – mail that is not important now, but seem important for the near future. “review” – mail that is not that important, but interesting to me in some way (like mailing lists w/ offers, tips, advice, etc).
“conversation” – long conversational email threads that I am tracking.
“reference” – mail that I don’t need to do anything about, but is good to hold on to.

When new mail comes in, I decide if it deserves its own “project” label. And if so, I set that up right away. Then I decide if it fits with one of the context labels above (If mail does not fit within one of the contexts above, it is most likely spam or trash). I also occasionally may “star” mail, if it is a favorite of mine. Then, I label the mail accordingly, and archive it. Only really important “urgent” mail I will sometimes leave unarchived, so I keep a more or less empty inbox.

I don’t have a set schedule when I will review my context labels. If there is mail that needs to be looked at, I will “Mark as Unread”. This way, whenever I check my email, I will know what contexts to look at because the label will appear bold.

That’s pretty much my whole GTD email strategy.

In my job I have to use corporate Outlook. And also at home because is the only way to have all stuff synchronized with job trough my old but fully actual HP Ipaq phone.
I go to mail between 2 to 5 times a day. First thing is to put many in the trash only by reading the Subject or Sender. All other are opened; if is a quick answer is done right in the moment and go to the long archive “Received”; if important to a project the “.msg” file goes to Nozbe. If needs more thinking / search and that must be done that day, as I can not make an action in Nozbe with an attached file, I preserve it in Inbox, and is treated in the end of the day, when there are less people and phoning around. The others, as well when the email changes or creates a new action with a colleague I create the action in Nozbe (context waiting for Mr. x, or delegated) and forward him the email with my comments, if necessary.
The “files” and “notes” linked to a Nozbe Action could be a very great improvement, so I could work much better in one only environment: Nozbe.
And one more thing: when I am waiting an important email, I make “send-receive” and only open that email, if it is there. The other ones shall wait in Inbox unopened.
All emails to be treated later / another day with an action, have an reply to sender telling him something like I’ll see that next x to y day”, if necessary.

My biggest email challenges? – You can stick your two fingers up at them! it’s the Volume and Variety.

There really are only two squirty-bleach solutions for me:

Volume – tools that are easy and ubiquitous (so I mean everywhere – which today means browser-based and with mobile apps to supplement). They have to be, as the one sure way to quickly zap each new arrival before the Volume baddie gets you.

Variety – tools that quickly and easily classify. So this means “tag” by any other name. With some quick-flick tagging, this mind-boggling variety becomes orderly and manageable. You see the wood, not the trees. You spot the bright shiny needle in the haystack. And tags are way better than folders because you can have all the tags you need for each new email (but only one nested folder). Tagging is the way to go.

OK – my cures? I’m a huge fan of the “Googlemail / GTDInbox” pairing. With this dynamic duo I shoot-out the arcade game of new email:

• I LABEL (Google’s preferred word for “tag”) everything (apart from junk) – labelling will be a combo of project, context and status as needed – just enough to make sense of it and no more
• I set-up FILTERS for all recurring email sources – so that most of my labelling is actually automatic on receipt – with this I see at a glance if some hot project sources have written to me or some hot context (like “BIG ROCKS” or “TODAY” or “WAITING FOR”) has arrived.
• I embrace the “ARCHIVE” button like a long-lost lover! – This button changed my life (no really) and is the one thing that allows me to approach zen-like zero-ness with email. Why? Because I know it’s still available at the click of a label, and from any browser on the planet. So I can’t keep my hands off it! – (pre)view, label, (fiilter), (act), archive (and relax)...
• I scoop absolutely every email gathering account (and I have many) into this hungry combo using all of the harvesting/ redirecting tools provided by Google and the other email providers – ONE place to do this stuff is the key – no open loops!

For only the HOT projects/ contexts, I slip on my black-belt tools and do a bit of ninja-fighting with them. I’m using email forwarding (automatically using filters/ labels) to send these VIP emails off to Nozbe where they do a different dance or two for my projects and programmes. (Adding value to key project notes, more advanced action processing, joining project workflows among teams, etc.)

Knowing that I have that super-charge option by simply pressing the “forward” button makes it so much easier to then press the “archive” button and return to the blissful state of Inbox Zero.

Hope this helps here and there – and will be fascinated to hear how others take on this challenge.

cheers,

Paul

Great tutorial Michael, if a picture is worth a thousand words, your videos are worth 10,000!

I handle email a bit different. I use the two minute rule as I process my inbox 4 to 5 times per day. Any actionable email that will take more than two minutes is immediately forwarded to Nozbe inbox. I don’t worry about making it a task or adding parameters at this time, as I am just processing email inbox to zero.

Later, when in Nozbe, I check inbox about twice per day. Any forwarded email is quickly edited to add a context and move it to appropriate project.

If it needs to be a task instead of note, I just open quick action, where I can enter the task needed while still viewing the entire note (email) in the inbox. (Thanks goodness for quick action, very useful here) I add whatever is needed, context, project, date if appropriate, and add the action. Then I immediately delete the note.

Sounds like more work than it is, with Nozbe everything is simple and quick. John

That’s really interesting, John.

I never delete the forwarded email/notes once I create an action in Nozbe. Perhaps I could try that, as the original email will be tagged in my GTDInbox anyway, so I can always get back to it that way.

Thanks for the idea – will give this a try.

Paul