Controlling Your Email and Inbox Zero
If you’re like me, then your email Inbox can sometimes get out of control. I have tried several different methods to control my Inbox. For example, I have created sub-folders in my Inbox based on topic or who the email is from.
However, this often fails as a solution because there will be emails that don’t fit into a particular folder, or worse, fit into multiple folders. Another method is using sub-folders that are named based upon a temporal scheme such as month, fiscal quarter, or year. Neither of these solutions works in the long term.
Getting Things Done Workflow Flowchart
Like most knowledge workers in the world today, I handle a large number of issues, projects, deadlines, and action items. Some are small and some are large. Often, many will be “in-flight” at once.
Several months ago, I began doing some research into the best productivity and organizational methodologies. One that kept popping up was Getting Things Done by David Allen. Within the software development community, it is especially popular. After reading the book, I can see why. The whole process is very logical, straight forward, and lends itself to be diagrammed using a flowchart. The author includes one in his book. Unfortunately, it left many important pieces of information out. Therefore, I am including a much better flowchart here.