I really enjoyed Merlin's Google TechTalk, and I've started to look at my inbox in a whole new light.

One thing that suddenly came to mind today is a mantra of a friend of mine, Richard. He often tells me;

[="Blue"]"Don't put it down, put it away"[/]

Obviously he's talking about the state of my desk, but what about my inbox? How many times will I open a mail, read it and then pop it right back into the inbox? How many times will I scroll by it on a daily basis?

Everytime you open a mail in your inbox and then close it again with no further action you are obliging yourself to do it again later. Be kind to your future self and put it away somewhere; followup, trash, archive - whatever.

Its a bit like my not wanting to pick up a jigsaw piece unless I can place it - no wait, thats a whole other discussion.