{"id":8472,"date":"2008-03-13T08:03:47","date_gmt":"2008-03-13T16:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gtdtimes.com\/2008\/03\/13\/getting-email-under-control\/"},"modified":"2014-02-03T14:33:49","modified_gmt":"2014-02-03T22:33:49","slug":"getting-email-under-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Email Under Control"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"david_gtd_times.jpg\"<\/a>Getting Your Email Under Control by David Allen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Managing the flood of email messages that most of us need to interact with on a daily basis is a growing challenge. No one\u2019s volume is diminishing. That \u201cbeast is out of the barn,\u201d and we\u2019re not going to be able to shove it back in! So, getting a grip on it with a good systematic approach is critical for staying sane. If you are in the small minority of people currently able to maintain less than a screen-full of email most of the time (because your volume is low and\/or you process them rapidly and consistently), your system is probably fine as-is. If you regularly have many more than that (hundreds, thousands?) residing in your email in-box, you\u2019re dangerously subject to stress and numbness relative to your digital communication world.<\/p>\n

Because of the volume of discrete messages and the speed with which they show up, email seems to be a unique demon, with a life of its own. In essence, however, email is no different than a desktop in-basket or an answering machine \u2013 it\u2019s simply a collection box for incoming communication and information that needs to be assessed, processed, and organized as appropriate. And controlling email involves the same challenge as managing your physical in-basket \u2013 often too much stuff that we don\u2019t have the time or inclination to process and organize as it comes in. So it easily becomes a swamp of \u201cstaged\u201d or \u201cpending\u201d items \u2013 glanced at, perhaps even read, but not decided about or effectively organized (I have uncovered as many as 7,000 emails still festering in a client\u2019s in-tray).
\nThe Big Challenge<\/strong>
\nAs email is simply an in-box, it needs to be emptied regularly to be maximally functional. \u201cEmpty\u201d does not mean finishing all the work embedded in your emails \u2013 it means making decisions about what each one means and organizing it accordingly. The same procedures apply to any in-box \u2013 whether it\u2019s the tray on your desk or your answering machine. They should be processing stations, not storage bins.
\nBecause the volume in the computer is much greater than an audio or paper-based \u201cin,\u201d however, getting it to zero seems particularly daunting. But there is no light at the end of the tunnel if you are merely letting things pile up there. It takes less effort to start every day or two from zero in your in-box than it does to maintain \u201camorphous blobs\u201d of accumulated and unorganized \u201cstuff\u201d that must continually be re-read and re-assessed for what they mean.
\nThe Basics<\/strong>
\nWe have seen hundreds of unique ways people have come up with to manage their email, and many work just fine \u2013 as long as nothing is lost, the inventory does not continue to increase, and someone can easily see the emails they need to take action on. Here are some basic procedures that commonly work for everyone:<\/p>\n

Use the DELETE key! <\/strong> The ease with which we trash things from our physical mail doesn\u2019t seem to translate to the computer for many people \u2013 perhaps because emails don\u2019t take up much physical space and they are so easily parked somewhere that\u2019s not immediately in our face. They\u2019re taking up psychic space, however, and deleting everything that we don\u2019t really need, as we encounter it, is crucial to managing the flood.<\/p>\n

When in doubt, throw it out.<\/strong> If you\u2019ve let emails pile up, purging is the first thing to do. Sometimes it is easier to clean house by clicking the \u201cFrom\u201d button which will sort them by their source \u2013 you can often dump several at a time that way.<\/p>\n

File! <\/strong> Use a simple storage system for stuff you want to keep as archives and support information. If you\u2019re a \u201cwhen in doubt, keep it\u201d person, that\u2019s fine, but don\u2019t have it clogging up your in-basket. Make reference folders in your navigator bar and file those kinds of emails over there. It\u2019s a lot easier to lose track of them among the five hundred or a thousand in your in-box than in a folder you can name. And your Search function
\ncan easily find most anything with a key word. Avoid using nested folders that you have to click open to find the file. One simple alpha-sorted list \u2013 by topic, theme, or person \u2013 is usually sufficient and easier to deal with on the run. Purge them when you have little windows of time with nothing better to do.<\/p>\n

Complete the < 2-minute ones!<\/strong> The infamous two-minute rule is crucial for email management. Anything you can deal with in less than two minutes, if you\u2019re ever going to do it at all, should be done the first time you see it. It takes longer to read it, close it, open it, and read it again than it would to finish it the first time it appears. In a heavy email environment, it would not be unusual to have at least a third of them require less
\nthan two minutes to dispatch.<\/p>\n

Organize emails that require action and follow-up! <\/strong> If you\u2019ve deleted, filed, and finished your < two- minute emails, you\u2019re left with only two kinds: (1) those that require more than two minutes to deal with and (2) those that represent something you\u2019re waiting on from others. A simple and quick way to get control is to create two more folders in your navigator bar \u2013 \u201cAction\u201d and \u201cWaiting For\u201d and file them accordingly. These folders should be visually distinct from your reference folders and should sit at the top of your folder list, which can be accomplished by making them all caps with a prefix punctuation like the @ symbol or a hyphen (whichever will sort the folders to the top).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you\u2019ve deleted, filed, finished, or sorted your emails into action-reminding folders, you\u2019re left with an empty in-basket. Now, at least, it will be much easier to review and evaluate a more complete inventory of your work at hand; and you\u2019ll find it\u2019s a lot easier to focus \u2013 on email or on anything else.<\/p>\n

The On-Going Challenge <\/strong>
\nYou must consistently review actionable emails. Once you get your in-basket to zero, it will feel fantastic. But you can\u2019t ignore the batch of ACTION emails you\u2019ve organized. The problem with computers as reminder tools is the out-of-sight-out-of-mind syndrome. If you\u2019re not reviewing them regularly enough, they will start to on your psyche, creating even more avoidance and bad feelings. People leave emails in their in-basket to begin
\nwith for the same reason they pile things on their desk, thinking, \u201cIf it\u2019s in front of me, I won\u2019t lose or forget it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course that seemingly practical habit of visual cuing is undermined by the volume and ambiguity of what\u2019s in the piles. They create numbness instead of clarity. It\u2019s much easier to assess your workload with actionable emails organized in one place. But it requires the good habit of checking on them regularly to feel OK about what you\u2019re ot doing with them at the moment.<\/p>\n

All this takes time and mental energy. Pretending that you can get email under control without dedicating the necessary personal resources to do it leads to frustration and stress. These best practices help make the process as efficient as possible, but the freedom that comes from having them under control is still not free. Just as people have learned to accept commute time as dues they pay to live and work where they\u2019d prefer, you must integrate the time and energy to deal with email into your life and work style.<\/p>\n

Customized Approaches <\/strong>
\nAs personal management software has continued to evolve, in both the standard desktop as well as the myriads of creative small applications and add-ins, the possibilities for variations in how to manage email abound. They can be coded, colored, and automatically filed. They can be sorted by prioritized senders. They can be deferred for retrieval at later times. They can be transferred and melded into task and to-do management functions in other parts of the software.<\/p>\n

If you set up and begin to get used to a simple folder system for actionable emails, you might find some specialized sub-categories useful. \u201cRead\/Review\u201d can be a folder for FYI-type emails (though printed versions of long ones are easier to manage than on screen). \u201cTo Print\u201d can be useful if you are not at a printer regularly. Some people find that taking the time to edit the subject lines of their own stored emails to reflect the specific action they need to take is useful.
\n
\nBest Practices<\/strong>
\nBut no matter how you tweak it or how cool the unique features and good tricks are that you might explore and even integrate as consistent functions into your personal system, the core principles of good workflow management must be followed to foster relaxed control of the beast:
\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keep actionable and non-actionable emails in separate places. <\/strong>It\u2019s too complex and stressful for your brain to constantly have to re-sort it every time it looks at it. A system works much better than your psyche for that. Emails filed in reference folders that still represent things to do produce anxiety; and email in the in-basket that is only needed for retrievable information will fog up your focus. Because most people don\u2019t have a good action-reminder system per se, they are trying to make their reference folders a system for remembering what to do, and that never really works. If reference and action reminders are separate things, it allows much more freedom and ease with keeping as much reference material as you want \u2013 it simply becomes a library.<\/p>\n

Keep it clean. <\/strong>Residue seems to self-generate but it doesn\u2019t self-destruct! Delete what you can to begin with, and purge your reference files regularly, as things get out of date and lose their value to you. Keep them reviewed. As with any action-reminder system, if you don\u2019t review and reassess the reminders of actions you might need to be taking, your mind will take back the job; and it doesn\u2019t do that job very well. You\u2019ll then avoid looking at your system and not really trust anything you\u2019re doing because of the hidden greements with yourself you\u2019ve neglected to re-negotiate.
\nBe good at the keyboard.<\/strong> We would be remiss in not reminding you of one of the most important factors in email management \u2013 how fast you type and how facile you are with shortcut keys and codes. Not only is poor typing speed inefficient, it creates a resistance to engage with email that undermines all the best intentions to get on top of it. If you\u2019re not up to at least fifty words per minute, getting there with a good typing tutor could make a world of difference.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We recommend using the simplest approach you can get by with, adhering to these basic best practices, especially if you\u2019re somewhat starting from scratch in getting this area under control. If you are relatively sophisticated in your email management already, and setting up more complex procedures for yourself has actually made it simpler, that\u2019s terrific. The challenge though is to keep it current, complete, and consistent \u2013 and not requiring more time and thought than is worth the payoff you may get. Your process has to be so basic and almost automatic that you will maintain it even when you don\u2019t feel like doing it.<\/p>\n

Email, like any powerful tool, can be a blessing or a curse. And if the tool goes with the job, you need to invest in whatever it takes to use it wisely and safely. It is a huge productivity enhancer, but when it gets away from you, it\u2019s a severe occupational hazard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting Your Email Under Control by David Allen Managing the flood of email messages that most of us need to interact with on a daily basis is a growing challenge. No one\u2019s volume is diminishing. That \u201cbeast is out of the barn,\u201d and we\u2019re not going to be able to shove it back in! So, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Getting Email Under Control”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,32],"tags":[136,137,22,745,109,130,135],"class_list":["post-8472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-david-allen","category-productivity-tips","tag-email","tag-empty-inbox","tag-getting-things-done","tag-david-allen","tag-gtd-best-practices","tag-gtd-times","tag-dac","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGetting Control of Email<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"David Allen explains simple but effective best practices for getting your inbox under control, and ultimately, to empty.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Getting Email Under Control\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"David Allen explains simple but effective best practices for getting your inbox under control, and ultimately, to empty.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Getting Things Done\u00ae\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-03-13T16:03:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-02-03T22:33:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2008\/03\/david_gtd_times.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GTD Times Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gtdtimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gtdtimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GTD Times Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GTD Times Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4\"},\"headline\":\"Getting Email Under Control\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-03-13T16:03:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-02-03T22:33:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/\"},\"wordCount\":1990,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2008\/03\/david_gtd_times.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"email\",\"Empty Inbox\",\"Getting Things Done\",\"David Allen\",\"GTD Best Practices\",\"GTD Times\",\"DAC\"],\"articleSection\":[\"David Allen\",\"Productivity Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/\",\"name\":\"Getting Control of Email\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2008\/03\/david_gtd_times.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-03-13T16:03:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-02-03T22:33:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"David Allen explains simple but effective best practices for getting your inbox under control, and ultimately, to empty.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2008\/03\/david_gtd_times.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2008\/03\/david_gtd_times.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Getting Email Under Control\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/\",\"name\":\"Getting Things Done\u00ae\",\"description\":\"David Allen's GTD\u00ae Methodology\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Getting Things Done\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png\",\"width\":370,\"height\":338,\"caption\":\"Getting Things Done\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/gtdtimes\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gtdtimes\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/2328651\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4\",\"name\":\"GTD Times Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"GTD Times Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/author\/webadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Getting Control of Email","description":"David Allen explains simple but effective best practices for getting your inbox under control, and ultimately, to empty.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Getting Email Under Control","og_description":"David Allen explains simple but effective best practices for getting your inbox under control, and ultimately, to empty.","og_url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/","og_site_name":"Getting Things Done\u00ae","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/","article_published_time":"2008-03-13T16:03:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-02-03T22:33:49+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2008\/03\/david_gtd_times.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"GTD Times Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gtdtimes","twitter_site":"@gtdtimes","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GTD Times Staff","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/"},"author":{"name":"GTD Times Staff","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4"},"headline":"Getting Email Under Control","datePublished":"2008-03-13T16:03:47+00:00","dateModified":"2014-02-03T22:33:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/"},"wordCount":1990,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2008\/03\/david_gtd_times.jpg","keywords":["email","Empty Inbox","Getting Things Done","David Allen","GTD Best Practices","GTD Times","DAC"],"articleSection":["David Allen","Productivity Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/","name":"Getting Control of Email","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2008\/03\/david_gtd_times.jpg","datePublished":"2008-03-13T16:03:47+00:00","dateModified":"2014-02-03T22:33:49+00:00","description":"David Allen explains simple but effective best practices for getting your inbox under control, and ultimately, to empty.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2008\/03\/david_gtd_times.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2008\/03\/david_gtd_times.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2008\/03\/getting-email-under-control\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Getting Email Under Control"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/","name":"Getting Things Done\u00ae","description":"David Allen's GTD\u00ae Methodology","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization","name":"Getting Things Done","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png","width":370,"height":338,"caption":"Getting Things Done"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/","https:\/\/x.com\/gtdtimes","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gtdtimes\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/2328651\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4","name":"GTD Times Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"GTD Times Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/author\/webadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}