Gmail Archive + Action Method = Zero Inbox Efficiency

01.15.2010

My workflow

Like many people, I manage multiple email accounts and have tons of to do items with deadlines that slip my mind.  I am constantly trying new methods and adjusting old ones to keep myself organized in regards to reading emails and organizing my to do items.

My most recent solution

So here is how Gmail Archives and the Action Method to do app have become my best solution yet.

It usually starts on my iPhone

I have five primary emails that I check on a regular basis: personal, junk, day job, DaBrook.org, and my web design business.  If an email requires an action—anything from a response that I can’t make at the moment to a client I have to contact about his or her web site—I leave it as unread.

This leaves me with a lot of read emails that are ready to be archived and removed from my inbox and a number of unread emails that I need to do something about.

You can see in the screenshot that I have my mail app in the bottom toolbar and my Action Method in the bottom right of the home screen for easy access.

I have not figured out how to setup my “All Mail” folder in gmail so that I can move an email straight to archive from my iPhone mail app. Holler if you have a solution!

Gmail Archives

I just started using gmail archives.  What it does is moves emails I don’t have to pay attention to any more into a folder called All Mail.  This leaves only emails that I still have to do something about in my Inbox.  Once I get onto a desktop web browser I move my read emails I am done with to Archive and mark my unread emails as read.

I like this because the emails that still require action steps stay in my inbox so I don’t forget about them, but they are not marked as unread so I don’t have that red mail notice on my iPhone.

Action Method

I have seen the Behance Network’s paper products around for a while, but just started using their online app at the end of last year.  I don’t remember how I first found out about it, but it was the iPhone app that I learned about first.  After only a few months, I have upgraded to a paid account and rely on the app daily.

When I have a to do item in my inbox, I simply mark it as read and move the to do item into Action Method.  I love it’s simplicity, deadline feature, and ability to organize by projects (which roughly match my email accounts).

We’ll See

None of my methods for staying organized seem to last too long.  That doesn’t bother me.  I don’t need a dogmatic solution as long as at any given time I have a method that is working. 

So far though, I have not enjoyed any method for keeping track of my todo items.  I love this method.  I actually find pleasure in it.  And, it has had the unexpected result of leaving me with a zeroed inbox on a daily basis.

If you’ll looking for a method to keep yourself organized, give it a shot and let me know what you think.

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