Posted by Partlycloudy on August 18, 2008, at 10:40:11
In reply to Re: Any ideas about organizing gmail? » Partlycloudy, posted by Dinah on August 18, 2008, at 10:30:58
> What does archiving do? I think I accidentally archived things instead of deleting them, but I don't see them anywhere so maybe I'm wrong.
>Archiving moves the messages from your inbox into Gmail's memory - all lumped together. At least it takes the messages OUT of your inbox, which is what I seem to need. Just seeing a plethora of messages, even if I've already read them, sitting in my inbox, is enough to fill me with anxiety. I feel the need to keep that inbox uncluttered.
> I think the star would take care of my most urgent problem. I tend to glance at emails even when I don't really have time to deal with them unless the sky is falling. Then I lose them in the inbox. If I disciplined myself to put a star on them, and then disciplined myself to look for stars regularly, I wouldn't lose them.
>
> Overall, though, I think that the way it is organized doesn't mesh very well with my brain. My brain tends to shy away from that much data. Folders and subfolders tend to break it down into chunks I can digest at a glance.
>And I tend to lose things in folders! Or at least forget which folder I might have put something in.
> I confuse people at work though. Apparently some people find my folders and subfolders and sub sub folders as confusing as I find a mass of information. :)
>Hey, if it's a system that your mind finds soothing (and to me that's what organization is all about, forget efficiency), then your folders are the right tools for you. I found that once I was able to visually clear out my inbox, I felt less anxious about the huge volume, because I didn't have to look at it any more, yet I know that everything is still accessible by keyword search.
PC
poster:Partlycloudy
thread:846672
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20080816/msgs/846989.html