What I meant is, I like to go over the email a couple of times before I file it, so it sticks in my brain. Usually I try to go through everything on Fridays, and file things that had been ongoing during the week (but are now done) then.

If emails are action items (and relatively simple ones), touching them once seems plausible. If they're an exchange of information, it seems perfectly reasonable to file or memorise the info, either of which imply further touching unless you're hella good. In ways I've never been.

All this reminds me that I really need to clean out my personal inbox here.

Hands! Hands in new email!

Yeah, I'm bad about that. I should rework how I work.

I have 302 messages in my inbox. I have a couple thousand in the one dedicated to support. And a database that contains every question asked since...well, I'm not sure. 1995, at minimum. Indexed and filed and... I still have a couple thousand emails in that box. Cause sometimes it's easier to recall Dec 3 2003 and look up that day than try to find that email buried in a 15 page log.

I need to know where to look. I also need my head filled with bits of arcana. Some of that arcana is knowing where to look. It's not a very transportable set of crap.

"Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, and I Need It Bad”

This? Is priceless.

Well, I just cleared hundreds of emails out of my personal email inbox. Anything that's in my inbox that's more than a month or so old lives on because of silly sentimentalism. I refuse to give in sufficiently to make a folder just for that, so there they stay.

It's one thing to have a working knowledge of a project-- my job is having encyclopedic knowledge about case facts. But the reason why I recommend the Getting Things Done book is because of one experience I had with it-- he suggests getting out a piece of paper and writing down every single outstanding task you have, personal or professional, short or long term, just everything where you think "I need to remember to do that." The night I did that my brain completely cleared. It was amazing and energizing. I felt like a fog of vague stress had lifted.

I'm admittedly a slacker at keeping up with writing down all my tasks and next actions and whatnot, but I am a believer in how clarifying it can be to have that done.

I also have all my emails filed by project and I review everything sent and received over the past week on Monday nights. I just wish outlook worked as well as gmail at indexing so it wasn't such a pain in the ass to search for.

But the reason why I recommend the Getting Things Done book is because of one experience I had with it-- he suggests getting out a piece of paper and writing down every single outstanding task you have, personal or professional, short or long term, just everything where you think "I need to remember to do that." The night I did that my brain completely cleared. It was amazing and energizing. I felt like a fog of vague stress had lifted.

Oh, that's interesting. I wonder if that would actually work for me. I have a vague feeling it would stress me out.

I have a vague feeling it would stress me out.

Thinking about it right now vaguely stresses me out, which is something I should probably deal with.

After the massage, though. I refuse to attempt anything other than the simplest self-feeding and grooming tasks before accomplishing massage.

I refuse to attempt anything other than the simplest self-feeding and grooming tasks before accomplishing massage.

That is a totally good idea. I'd do the same except unfortunately my next massage isn't until 2:30 on March 25. At least I have one scheduled, though.