Open Source Applications Foundation

[Design] High End Email

Arthur Fink Thu, 06 Mar 2003 15:17:08 -0500


At 10:28 AM 3/6/03 -0800, Kaitlin Duck Sherwood wrote:

 . . .
>Based on my recent experience as the author of some books on how to deal 
>with email overload *and* as a "get through your email faster" trainer, 
>I am not sure that people would actually make use of this.  I met an 
>amazing number of people who were almost hostile to the idea of spending 
>any time learning how to get through email faster.  Why?  Unclear, but I 
>think it's a combination of the following:
 . . .

I agree with Kaitlin's analysis.

But there is another side.  True confession: The two things that most
impede my effectiveness, or that show my lack thereof, are the clutter on
my desk and the clutter in my e-mail program.  And it's clear to me that
developing habits of good hygeine, and acquiring tools that help in this,
are critical.

In my case, e-mails are (or may be) related to various things:
	Customers or prospects, as I track my involvement with them.
	To-do lists, deadline dates, etc.
	Word documents, and other program objects
	Schedule objects.
In summary, for most of my work life, e-mail precedes and trails most of
what I do, records what I must do, and holds me accountable for the
statements I've made.

If I thought that Chandler or any other tool offered a real chance of
helping with all this, and I believed that it would be a durable tool that
may become a standard, then it would be easy to sell me on investing my
time on learning it.

Am I alone?  I think not.

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