There are implementations and information on applying Getting Things Done method onto email client like Outlook. How about applying it to open source email client? Entropic Principal has posted up an entry on how to apply GTD with thunderbird. The author got a pretty good idea. He uses label feature for assigning labels to different contexts (i.e. Delete, Archive, Action Required, Wait, Defer) in thunderbird – the sole reason is that each label assigns to a shortcut key (i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), triage is so quick with single keystroke. Then a saved search assign to search a specific label for displaying the context:
… GTD is heavily dependent on keeping track of “next actions”, essentially a comprehensive to-do list. The idea is to know what you’re not working on so you can make reasonable choices about what’s important to work on right now. The concept of the “In” box is core – for every item you take out of “In”, there are only a few options: toss it in the trash, decide on a required next action, or file it for reference. (Technically, there’s also “waiting for somebody else” and “defer until later”, but these are next actions too.)
Let’s start with the labels. (Thunderbird -> Preferences -> Display) I’ve assigned my labels as follows: Delete, Archive, Action Required, Wait, Defer. Since Thunderbird assigns these as keyboard shortcuts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), I can go through my inbox and quickly triage items with an appropriate label. The color coding makes it easy to pick out stuff that needs attention…
Using Thunderbird to Get Things Done – [Entropic Principal via HotLinks]
