Jason Clarke at downloadsquad has posted his take on why Inbox pilers are rude:
Right now, many of you with overflowing inboxes are probably screaming at your screen. How can we be so bold as to assume that we know if you’re on top of your email or not based on this simple criteria? … So why bother filing things at all?
Okay, we hear you, and understand your position. But there’s really no gentle way to say this, so we’re just going to come out and say it.
You’re wrong.
He goes on to make a well thought out argument for filing away messages as you act on them and using technology to help automate the process. If you’re still a piler, it’s worth a read to see if Jason can convince you to start filing.
This isn’t a new debate. See the comments on Jason’s 2005 post If Your Inbox Has More Than a Screenful of Messages In It, You’re Rude for a lively discussion on the subject.
Intelligently Empty Your Inbox
Yesterday Jason Clarke at Download Squad published his take on clearing a bulging Inbox. His process, deemed Inbox 0.5, involves decreasing the number of messages in your Inbox by half every day until it’s cleared. If the psychic weight of
Posted by ClearContext Corporate Weblog on March 6th, 2008.
No, not convinced. I agree more with the commenter to Jason’s original post that says that filer are more people who think that they will get back to it later and never do. The problem, in the end, is that an e-mail deluge is an e-mail deluge, and you are going to get washed away no matter what your organizational system. Your better off addressing the cause of the deluge than pretending that you can organize yourself out of it.
Posted by Amy Pemberton on October 18th, 2009.