Re: [OT] Emacs for email?

[Eric S Fraga <ucecesf@ucl.ac.uk>]

At Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:01:38 +0100,
jemarch@gnu.org wrote:
> 
> 
>    I've moved to a "0 size mailbox" approach to handling my email
>    (which works well with org and, in fact, requires org to work at
>    all really) so this is not an issue for me.
> 
> That sounds like an interesting approach.  Could you elaborate on
> that? Yes, I also have problems with my huge longstanding mailboxes
> :(
> 

google "zero email approach" and you'll get all kinds of blogs etc on
this topic, including those that recommend the complete opposite
approach (never delete email).  For instance, here are two:

http://interimvptoday.com/email-inbox-zero-versus-never-delete-email/
http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/009311.html

These and the others you will find allude to this approach fitting in
with the more general GTD view, which is why org-mode is critical (for
me) to get this working.

The summary is 5 actions when dealing with new email:

    * Delete: just get rid of it (or archive it)
    * Delegate: get someone else to deal with it
    * Respond: if it takes just a few minutes, do it right now
    * Defer: put it on a todo list, archive it, and deal with it later
    * Do: handle whatever the email actually needs you to do

The aim is to not have to go back to your inbox to see what you have
to deal with -- that's what org-mode (or whatever) is for.  Too much
time is wasted trawling through huge inboxes looking for actions to
respond to which means you're using an inbox as a todo list.  This is
not effective.

Others will of course argue otherwise!  All I can say is that I
switched to this approach about 9 months ago and I couldn't go back!
The stress relief is incredible...