aaron c beals

surviving the email onslaught
my inbox is far less crowded (with actionable items, specifically) than it was when i was doing full-time product management, but i still struggle to manage my inbox properly. there have been countless sites dedicated to management techniques (a great example), but i haven’t yet found one that works well for me. perhaps it’s a matter of discipline. i can tell you one thing, though — i don’t miss my blackberry. i thought i did at first, but after a few weeks of sweet freedom, i realized that the value added by constant access to email and the web was far outweighed by the crushing burden of having to deal with constant interruption.

ideally, i’d like to switch to a email management model where i say “i read/answer emails from 9am to 9:30am and 5pm to 6pm daily; if it’s more urgent, call or IM me.”

my favorite new take on email, courtesy of one of my favorite authors: bad correspondence. (thanks to Melissa Leffler for the link)