Mark as unread
I check my email a lot. I don’t think I’m compulsive about it, I just have Entourage and gmail open all day long and I see when something comes in. Some folks have found that they need to set their email programs to pull down new messages just once every few hours. I don’t mind saying that mine are set to check every minute. Usually I don’t find it distracting at all. When I do, I close the program.
The problem I do run into is when I get an email that I want to act on, but I’m unable to do so for a day or three. Usually I either write myself a note and get it into my follow up system, or print out the email and do the same. Occasionally, though, when I want to be really sure that I don’t drop it, or move it to the back of the ToDo list, I’ll mark the note as "unread" in my email program. This creates sufficient mental anguish for me that I take care of the email at the very next opportunity.
The reason for the anguish is that, while I don’t empty my email inbox like some people, I do process everything that comes in. Some people don’t like anything in their inbox, I just don’t like unread things in my inbox. Unread items in specific folders are fine with me, since I know they’ll get processed in due time. But I like my main inbox to contain only items that I’ve read. When there’s something in there that’s unread, I want to go read it right away. When I realize that it’s the thing that I marked unread, it drives me a little crazy and I can’t wait to get it done and mark it as read.
Weird, huh? It works great, though.
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POSTED IN: productivity, tips and tricks
13 opinions for Mark as unread
Dave Lorenzo
Nov 5, 2005 at 2:58 pm
You have more discipline than I do. I’m a slave to my e-mail. If the program is open I feel like I need to act on a new e-mail immediately.
Maybe I need some help………
Steve Duncan
Nov 5, 2005 at 6:04 pm
I have exactly the same view - if it’s unread, it’s like an unopened envelope, and the curiosity will kill me. Even if I know what it is, the unopenedness demands action.
I finally set Outlook to set things as read only by manual action - when you open the program it marks the message it’s on as read automatically. This resulted in too many ignored emails, so I went all manual.
Now I find myself using the read status kind of like a todo list - I mark things read when I’m sure I know when/how things will be dealt with.
Good post Bren!
Adrian Savage
Nov 5, 2005 at 6:30 pm
Bren,
If you check your email (or register that new ones have arrived) every minute you ARE compusive. Sorry, but that’s how it is. It’s a very common ailment, part of our compulsion to (a) do everything faster, and (b) be available and in touch every second of the day.
Very few (if any) emails can’t wait a few hours. Better still, noting those that need thought and either setting them aside or drafting a response, but not sending it for a while, allows time for those all-important second thoughts.
According to the principles of Slow Leadership (http://www.slowleadership.org), there’s a correct “tempo” for every task. Some genuinely demand speed and instant responses, probably 99.9% don’t. I would guess that reading and answering emails has a correct tempo that’s somewhere on the slower side of average. Opening and reading emails continuously (or nearly so) generates constant distraction — a source of stress, fragmented attention and definitely not “slacker manager” material.
Adrian
Bren
Nov 5, 2005 at 8:37 pm
Adrian, I don’t check my email every minute, but the software does. When I’m ready to check my email, the latest is ready and waiting for me. I’ve disabled the bits (sounds and popups) of the email clients that announce a new message. I leave the programs open so that I don’t have to wait for them to load when I want to view email. As a result, I probably check email more often than I would if I had to load the program every time I checked. And, as I mentioned, if I find myself getting distracted by email, I just shut the program down. The prospect of having to wait for it to load is usually enough of a deterrant to checking. In any event, I’m definitely not checking every minute…several times an hour, at most. Though I’m guessing you’ll be equally aghast at that pace. :-)
I do wonder, though, mightn’t there be room between absolutely being compulsive and having a preferred working style? I’m inclined to see “right tempo” waxing and waning depending upon mood, energy level and other tasks at hand as well as raw personal preference.
(BTW, I love the principles of Slow Leadership–they seem very Quaker, and that’s appealing to this one.)
Marc Orchant
Nov 6, 2005 at 11:15 am
Bren: what you’re describing is actually a pretty common practice that, like many, can backfire on you if you don’t act on those e-mails relatively quickly. I could go into great detail here about how you can quickly convert e-mails into tasks or appointments that, at the appropriate time, get back in front of you to take the appropriate action. I will, instead, encourage you to pick up a copy of Michael Linenberger’s new book Total Workday Control using Microsoft Outlook.
http://www.workdaycontrol.com/thebook.html
Michael has put a lot of thought into a set of techniques and some easy-to-accomplish configuration changes to Outlook that address the issue you’re attempting to resolve using Mark as Unread. I think you’ll find it really helpful. Unlike GTD or other “whole life” disciplines, Michael’s sole focus is on maximizing Outlook’s role as the dashboard for your day and so requires fewer changes to your existing habits and work style.
MahiX2
Nov 6, 2005 at 4:57 pm
I am graduating college in May and in the middle of my job hunt right now. On top of that I am the web designer/developer for the student government at my university. Team those two factors with all of my other involvement and general day to day emailing and I get enough email to make my head spin.
Then a couple weeks back I decided to get a grip on it and I whipped up a labeling flashcard. There are definitely better ways to do it, but since I use Outlook, the flag system was there and ready.
Feel free to steal, change, sell, whatever my system:
http://www.mahix2.com/archives/outlook-e-mail-flag-codes/
Cheers.
Steve Pavlina
Nov 6, 2005 at 11:37 pm
Checking email that often seems like a serious distraction, unless your whole job is to do little else but answer email. What would happen if you checked email only once or twice a day?
I’ve been happy with this approach to checking email:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/03/efficient-email/
Allan Pettie
Nov 7, 2005 at 4:45 am
Compulsive or not, the problem of keeping track of messages to follow up is easily solved in Outlook.
Just drag the message to your task list - Outlook creates a task which you can assign to one of your GTD context categories and add date for follow-up.
I use this all the time… I can even delete or file the original message to clear my inbox.
At work I am tied to a web-mail interface, so I made some folders there for follow-up and waiting-for. Works too, not as neat.
Bryan
Nov 7, 2005 at 4:49 am
I’m a big proponent of only allowing email interruptions every hour, but I can understand your points. I often will manually check in between automatic checks if I’m expecting something or if I need something to do.
But since I know that you are a GTD-head (though I don’t know how you have the system implemented) I’m surprised that you don’t take the two-to-three-days-later email ‘actions’ and drop them into your GTD inbox.
For me, my gmail inbox is of course my GTD inbox (for readers who aren’t familiar with GTD with Gmail - see this). Action items from other email accounts are forwarded to my gmail account, and I have seamless loop closure. For physical GTD systems, this could be a matter of printing the email and dropping it into your inbox.
tim
Nov 7, 2005 at 9:50 am
Hey Bren:
This may sound overly simplistic, but I just label an email “todo” in gmail. Then, when I need to see my “todo” list (I even email myself tasks to include in this list) I filter my gmail to bring up the list.
Of course, it doesn’t nag me like the BIG, BOLD, BLACK letters of an unanswered email. That is definitely something that would bug me as well.
steve
Nov 7, 2005 at 9:06 pm
Since I am a compulsive email reader, I’ve done a few things that help my email flow, a few (or all?) of which I lifted from GTD.
1. I turned off all email notifications. This allows me to work with less interruptions.
2. I’ve created 4 folders (not including archives). My folders are 1)To do, 2)Delegated or Followup, 3)For general review 4)To Be Filed. GTD has more, but frankly what the program outlines is too many for me to feel that I can track regularly.
Stuff that comes in is sorted in those a few times a day , if not acted upon immediately. In the afternoon, I review box #2, and at the beginning of the next day I review box #1. Every few weeks I move items from #3 and 4 into archived email.
I use the free Copernic desktop search to index and search everything. I prefer this to others since it can search network shares. It still has a few limitations, such as being resource-intensive, but is otherwise good.
I have stopped having emails slip through the cracks and it feels good/productive to have a virtually empty mailbox. I still check email manually, but now far less than before and it leaves me time to focus on the important items at hand.
Rob
Nov 9, 2005 at 9:09 am
You know, it was fascinating to me. A couple years ago I sent an email to Jim Kouzes (The Leadership Challenge). Almost immediately I received a reply. Thought maybe he had a staff responding to his emails, but as it turned out, it really was him. I have since emailed him several more times, and almost every time I have very quickly received a personal response.
Martin
Nov 30, 2005 at 7:30 am
You know what, I think a few mentions were made of it, but Outlook’s flagging system is the ideal solution (flag something according to priority - red, blue, yellow, whatever - and then group according to flag status).
Thing is, for some reason, marking as unread is so much easier, and I end up just doing that as well most of the time! Stupid…