Based on calls to the help desk, there appear to be as many ways to store and organize email as there are people. From filtering all incoming email directly to the trash, to keeping every message in the inbox, to creating elaborate folders (many of which may contain a single message), we’ve probably seen every possible system. If you’ve found a method that works for you, that’s great and you can stop reading now. But I suspect for most of us, email manages us more than the other way around.

Quentin came across a neat email filing system the other day on lifehacker.com that I think will make processing email a considerably more manageable task. I’ve started using it, and will report back in a month or two on the success or failure. The goal is to eliminate the time (the human time, not the computer time) you spend repeatedly scanning through 10s/100s/1000s of messages in your Inbox, but instead do some basic filing the first time you ready each message.

Here’s how it works. First, create three folders in your email program: Action, Archive, and Hold (if you’re not sure how to make folders, contact the Help Desk for assistance). The Action folder will be for messages that require you to do something, such as write a report. The Hold folder is for messages that you’ll need again in the near term but don’t require you to do anything, such as a delivery confirmation number for a package you are expecting. The Archive folder is for long-term storage of messages you may want to review at some distant time. Store any message in the Archive folder that you are done with now but may find useful later.

If you currently sort and store old messages in many folders so you can find them later, the notion of a single Archives folder may seem unmanageable. However, with the sorting and searching capabilities of modern email programs, it’s possible to quickly locate individual messages even with thousands of messages in your Archives. And this simpler system will save considerable time when filing old messages.

Once you have created the folders, open your inbox, and start with the oldest message. Read the message, and either delete it, or file it in the Action, Archive, or Hold folder. Repeat until your Inbox is empty. Then, as new messages come in, delete or file them the first time you read them.

The catch–there’s always a catch–is that you will need to regularly review and act on items in your Action and Hold folders, deleting or archiving messages as you finish things, or else those folders will become as unmanageable as your Inbox.  But this system will get you off to a good start at focusing on your most important messages.

The filing system described in this blog entry was adapted from a posting on lifehacker.com. See that article for more details on making the most of this filing system.