I think most of us have heard the "Touch Paper Once" rule, for working more efficiently. Instead of letting paperwork pile up, for each document we receive, we should take immediate action or put it in a "to-do box, file it or throw it away. The same technique can be applied to our inbox, where e-mails seem to multiply faster than bunnies.
The action we take will depend on the e-mail. It may just call for "read it, respond and delete." We may have a series of e-mails documenting ongoing correspondence. They should be saved in appropriate folders. Some e-mails may have attached documents that need to be saved. 
Others, we may want to forward. Of course, the inevitable junk mail should be deleted immediately - do not pass GO - proceed directly to the garbage.
Okay, I admit I know the rules and some of them, I even follow. I'm pretty good about deleting junk mail, immediately. I'm also fairly prompt in dealing with e-mails that require a response. Client correspondence gets moved to individual folders, but the system starts to fall apart when I get to the "other" category.
One of my endearing traits is procrastination. My inbox tends to pile up with the miscellany that I haven't gotten around to categorizing; the article I may want to read, the humorous story or intriguing pictures I may want to forward, the discount coupons I may decide to print and the inevitable promotions that may be worth reviewing.
Well, that "maybe" category has been dealt with, for me. This morning, while multi-tasking and toggling back and forth to check my messages, my inbox somehow got deleted. I wasn't even checking my inbox when it happened. In an instant - now you see it, now you don't. All my incoming messages - gone.
I guess I'll be starting the New Year with a clean slate, or at least no more than 10 days worth of unresolved incoming messages. If you've sent me a message to which I haven't responded, please re-send. You haven't been ignored - you've been deleted.
Copyright © 2008 Marilyn Katz, WestportCTProperties.com, All Rights Reserved, Oh No!! - Forced Efficiency
Hi Marlyn;
I do appreciate your post and I must say great idea. Happy Holiday!
Anthony- Knowing what to do and doing it are two different things. Unfortunately, I had way too many messages in my inbox.
Marilyn - we must be identical twins. My inbox also gets overloaded - so does my fall-back "Old Inbox" where messages go when I clear out the Inbox. Unfortunately I've never been able to properly sync my ACT files - and my assistant says it's because I can't clean out my e-mail.
Sharon- I know what you mean. I not only have trouble cleaning out my e-mails, I also tend to file away too many paper files.
Hi Marilyn,
Surely your inbox should be in your deleted file and easily moved back? Are you using Outlook?
The one touch paper rule requires discipline, as does most of our self-managed activities.
There is little doubt in my mind that discipline, or accountability to oneself, is what really separates the achievers. Knowing this still doesn't stop me completely from procrastinating though.
In early July I wrote a blog post that touched on Procrastination: http://johngrasty.ca/blog/?p=18. I hope you might find it of interest.
Thanks for commenting on my Prudential blog post Marilyn.
Wishing you and yours an outstanding holiday season and New Year.
John- I was emptying my deleted file, when it happened. That was the first place I checked. The deleted file was empty and so was my inbox. I was using Web Outlook (our Pru e-mail). After I sort through my messages, I import them to my regular Outlook (manually), but I hadn't done that with the most current batch.
Marilyn- I'm not a big advocate of deleting email. I use the free program Xobni (inbox spelled backwards) with Outlook to be able to find all my correspondence quickly. I know this sounds like a commercial but it has been very helpful in keeping me nimble with all my client correspondence.
Chuck- The "total" deletion of my inbox wasn't intentional, but most, if not all, of my client messages were already in folders. On the positive side, it gave me a new beginning, for a new year.
I have my companies email address forwarded to my main email so everything is in one place.
Scott- I have it set so I manually have to hit send and receive, before it moves over. Not the most efficient way, but it gives me a chance to weed out all the misc messages. Trouble is, I sometimes forget to move the saved ones over.