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Three Years of Logging My Inbox Count

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Re: Three Years of Logging My Inbox Count

#21

Post by stephengillie »

Jtsummers wrote: post #20
stephengillie wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're using the Gmail model, where mail has labels and gets archived. I think a lot of people are using the other model, where email goes in folders and gets deleted. Living in the MS world, I struggle to use the Gmail model. I create an Archive folder and put it as a favorite folder. When I'm done with an email, instead of deleting it like Outlook wants, I stick it into the Archive folder. I constantly have to chec…

https://support.office.com/en-za/article/Introduction-to-Aut... Right click on the folder (Sent Items in this case). Select properties, go to the AutoArchive tab. Specify the rules (where to move it and when). AutoArchive gets executed periodically, but you can also force it through the File menu. File -> Info -> Cleanup Tools -> Mailbox Cleanup -> AutoArchive (probably a faster way but that's the way I found).

Ah yes, AutoArchive.

Much as how AutoRecover (Word) is not AutoSave (N++), AutoArchive is not Archive.

Archive is the manual process of dropping your mail into another folder when you've processed it from your inbox, in order to keep yourself organized. AutoArchive, as the link suggests, is an automated tool that will age mail from your archive folder (and rules-based folders) into older storage folders, for technical reasons - folder capacity is finite, but we can make more folders.

Confusion between the two is probably exacerbating the Inbox Zero crisis.

Re: Three Years of Logging My Inbox Count

#22

Post by psychometry »

soft_dev_person wrote: post #14
scott_s wrote: post #11

I wonder if the name "inbox" is what causes people so much stress. I don't think of it as an actual inbox. It's just where my mail goes - all of it. I read everything, but I don't bother organizing it. Occasionally I'll mark some message as important, or keep a few open so I can get to them later. But most often, I don't. Search is easy. I don't see the point in organizing my mail.

True for Gmail (and similar, I'm sure), not so true for my corporate Outlook account where search sucks and is really slow, and has ridiculously tiny storage allocated so I actually have to archive older messages in an actual file...

Sounds like you just have an incompetent IT department. Storage is cheap and fast searching of databases is a solved problem.

Re: Three Years of Logging My Inbox Count

#23

Post by sosborn »

vilmosi wrote: post #5

I don't understand this "Inbox Zero" stress. How hard is it to set up filters on your email? How hard is it to swipe it away to archive it? How many emails do you have to write a day?!

> How many emails do you have to write a day?!

Way too fucking many :(

Re: Three Years of Logging My Inbox Count

#24

Post by pm215 »

toothbrush wrote: post #17
soft_dev_person wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True for Gmail (and similar, I'm sure), not so true for my corporate Outlook account where search sucks and is really slow, and has ridiculously tiny storage allocated so I actually have to archive older messages in an actual file...

What about something like OfflineIMAP + notmuch or mu? That works for me, and search is as good (or better) than it was for me using Gmail.

Not all Exchange setups are configured to allow IMAP access...

Re: Three Years of Logging My Inbox Count

#25

Post by lfowles »

stephengillie wrote: post #12
vilmosi wrote: post #5

I don't understand this "Inbox Zero" stress. How hard is it to set up filters on your email? How hard is it to swipe it away to archive it? How many emails do you have to write a day?!

You're using the Gmail model, where mail has labels and gets archived. I think a lot of people are using the other model, where email goes in folders and gets deleted. Living in the MS world, I struggle to use the Gmail model. I create an Archive folder and put it as a favorite folder. When I'm done with an email, instead of deleting it like Outlook wants, I stick it into the Archive folder. I constantly have to chec…

This is what I use in mutt (incidentally it works in most mail clients ;) )

Read = Out of mind

Flagged = Take action, don't forget

Unread = Delete (and/or unsubscribe), read, or flag

I use folders for common senders, so Inbox only contains roughly unique emails (or spam) (ex: Steam and Amazon folders because receipts aren't important enough to take a decision on every time, but I do like to keep track of them)

Re: Three Years of Logging My Inbox Count

#26

Post by towelguy »

scott_s wrote: post #11

I wonder if the name "inbox" is what causes people so much stress. I don't think of it as an actual inbox. It's just where my mail goes - all of it. I read everything, but I don't bother organizing it. Occasionally I'll mark some message as important, or keep a few open so I can get to them later. But most often, I don't. Search is easy. I don't see the point in organizing my mail.

I'd say gmail labels are more like premade searches (with the added bonus of the unread count). I tend to move every email I expect into it's own label with filters and the "inbox" is just for the unexpected stuff.

Re: Three Years of Logging My Inbox Count

#27

Post by scott_s »

soft_dev_person wrote: post #14
scott_s wrote: post #11

I wonder if the name "inbox" is what causes people so much stress. I don't think of it as an actual inbox. It's just where my mail goes - all of it. I read everything, but I don't bother organizing it. Occasionally I'll mark some message as important, or keep a few open so I can get to them later. But most often, I don't. Search is easy. I don't see the point in organizing my mail.

True for Gmail (and similar, I'm sure), not so true for my corporate Outlook account where search sucks and is really slow, and has ridiculously tiny storage allocated so I actually have to archive older messages in an actual file...

As of a week ago, I was on Notes at work, which had not-so-great search. I still did this. Once or twice in the past few years I had to go in an delete large attachments, but I do that when it becomes a problem. It's not worth the mental effort of categorizing emails. (And deleting counts as categorizing.)

Now I'm on Verse (http://www.ibm.com/social-business/us/en/newway/), and it has great search. I'll keep doing what I was doing, just with even less pain.

Re: Three Years of Logging My Inbox Count

#28

Post by beachstartup »

scott_s wrote: post #11

I wonder if the name "inbox" is what causes people so much stress. I don't think of it as an actual inbox. It's just where my mail goes - all of it. I read everything, but I don't bother organizing it. Occasionally I'll mark some message as important, or keep a few open so I can get to them later. But most often, I don't. Search is easy. I don't see the point in organizing my mail.

organizing email is a fool's errand.

Re: Three Years of Logging My Inbox Count

#29

Post by lamontcg »

Weird.

I have 2,200+ e-mails in my inbox dating back to 2011. They're all read and just archived and I positively give zero shits about them -- except occasionally I do a search to find an e-mail that I got months ago (often package deliveries or itineraries or something like that). If it scrolls off of the page then its largely out of sight and out of mind. I didn't respond to it, so I probably won't.

Maybe the solution is to just stop caring about them as much and be a bit more brutal about your instant triage of if you're going to respond to them, and how much time you need to spend responding to them?

Re: Three Years of Logging My Inbox Count

#30

Post by vilmosi »

stephengillie wrote: post #12
vilmosi wrote: post #5

I don't understand this "Inbox Zero" stress. How hard is it to set up filters on your email? How hard is it to swipe it away to archive it? How many emails do you have to write a day?!

You're using the Gmail model, where mail has labels and gets archived. I think a lot of people are using the other model, where email goes in folders and gets deleted. Living in the MS world, I struggle to use the Gmail model. I create an Archive folder and put it as a favorite folder. When I'm done with an email, instead of deleting it like Outlook wants, I stick it into the Archive folder. I constantly have to chec…

As many people with jobs, I too use Microsoft's email. However archiving is less important to me.

The only reason I archive is because it's a quick way to "Mark as read" in Google. I don't really care about archiving per se.

I always assumed Inbox Zero refers you the number of unread emails you have. Archiving is about something else.

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