Gmail box Cleanup Hack
I’ve got well over 400 emails still lingering in Gmail, and I’m a really dedicated email deleter. I’ve got some ideas on hacking this up to make it easier to deal with. This requires Google Calendar to be used by you as well.
Prework
- Set up Google Calendar, and make sure you turn on email alerts with a pointer back to Gmail.
- In Gmail, make a label called “xxdel” or something to say that you MIGHT eventually delete this mail.
- Make a “reference” label for things that you need or want to keep in your inbox indefinitely.
Workflow
- Set up every-other or every-three day appointments in Google Calendar to prune your mailbox.
- Signup pages for websites and such- archive right away.
- Email requiring follow-up but not immediately- use the star.
- Label emails you’re not sure you need for any reason with your “xxdel” label.
- While in those emails, pick the oldest one, and from that mail message, select Add Event Details (right under the subject line to the far right of the form), and set it up as “Review xxdel” with a date of 30 days from now.
- Set up a “Review ‘reference’” meeting, too, for the same event.
- Delete anything that doesn’t follow those criteria. Wait a week, and see if there’s any impact. If not, keep doing that.
With Google telling you all the time why it’s so great to have a mega mailbox, it’s hard to see why mailbox pruning is a good plan. But because Google flatly refuses to add the “sort by date” type functions of most mail software, search is restricted to filter and label views, as well as the in-mail search capabilitiies. Keeping your inbux fairly pruned will be a great way to keep noise out of your inbox, improve search speeds (within your mail), and help unclutter your head a bit.
How would YOU hack this up better? What’s YOUR plan? Or can you recommend any “modules” to add to the idea? Tell us about them in Comments, or through our wiki.
–Chris Brogan writes about self-improvement and creativity at [chrisbrogan.com]. He’s helping organize PodCamp Boston, and promises the next installment of the Life Hack Podcast fairly shortly.
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Comments
Kuz says on July 22nd, 2006 at 3:34 pm
I’m confused – why do you need to keep “emails you’re not sure you need for any reason” in your inbox? Why not just archive them? Chances are, you won’t need it, and if you do, just search for it later.
If I get an email that I don’t have to act on until a week later or more, I label it with a context and/or project label and I’ll catch it in my weekly review. Otherwise, it gets a star, then archive.
Sorry bro, but 400 emails in the inbox is not a dedicated email deleter.
Roman Rytov says on July 22nd, 2006 at 5:12 pm
I’d start with a question – why to delete them at all? If it’s a spam – mark it as such. If it’s a subscription you don’t wanna keep on – unsubscribe. I used to delete emails but then every act requires answering the question “will I need it in the future?”. I deleted a couple of ads I thought I wouldn’t need and then regreted when couldn’t find them.
I guess this habit comes from the dark ages – when we used client based emails (Outlook Express, for instance) and had to worry about our message box. With gmail there is no sucha problem. Even archiving is not required often. The only thing I do with processing gmails (besides reporting smap) is labeling emails. Often by many lables. I stopped using folders and almost don’t use rules in the corporate Outlook either. But in the Outlook I use lookup pluging that helps me find leterally everything.
What I agree with the tips is the dedicated time for managing emails, especially if you get tens of them.
Also have a look at my post on the email culture with a few tips: http://roman-rytov.typepad.com.....lture.html
Bryan Person says on July 22nd, 2006 at 5:14 pm
I have 2,851 e-mails in my inbox, and the search function works very fast and well for me!
And I don’t really see the “noise” except beyond the first page. If I can’t quickly find the message I need from my most recent messages or from my labels folders (I could do better at labelling), I use the search.
leo says on July 22nd, 2006 at 8:31 pm
i have zero messages in my inbox and always keep it that way. when i get an email, here are my choices:
1) reply immediately. this is the majority of my emails. once i reply, i archive immediately.
2) spam or delete it.
3) if it requires an action besides a reply, i put it on one of my gtd context lists. then i archive it.
4) if it requires me to do something at a certain time (like a meeting or appointment), i put it on gcal and then archive it.
so everything is replied to, deleted, calendared, to-do listed, and definitely archived immediately. i never use the inbox as a holding bin.
and a clean and empty inbox is so nice!
Jimmy Boy says on July 24th, 2006 at 9:02 am
Dude, just archive them and trust the search functionality… The idea of this feels uncomfortable at first cos all your mail just ‘disappears’ from view, but anything you need to find will be accessible from the search.
Also, doing this is a good idea for becoming aware of items that you need to label (when you search repeatedly for stuff).
Laters!
sindhu says on November 10th, 2006 at 1:44 am
holla! thank you very much, wonderful post :)
jane says on February 16th, 2007 at 2:50 am
Can u hack gmail?? Could u let me know. Thanks.
maheshexp says on February 25th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Even I’ve explored the Gmail to it’s atomic level and wrote a post on it. Read it and I always wait for your comments. – Hack Gmail search
- maheshexp
Sumana Chandr says on May 22nd, 2008 at 1:58 am
i forget my password & sequirity question so i don’t loged in my account how i can get my password.
yash garg says on February 13th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
hacking master
share the tips with me