I've been thinking about email a lot more than I would like to during the last couple of days due to my latest attempt to have a GTD based workflow and eliminate some of the friction1 in my life.

I know for a fact that email is not really the problem when it comes to managing my life and the thoughts about how to handle the incoming maybe just my minds way of just "moving the food around on my plate".

BUT

This has been a problem for me every time that I get organized. I've been blessed to have two computers and it seems like a lot of trouble trying to get the two to have the same set up because I share one with the rest of the family and the other is my "work" computer that has all the latest do dads and what nots in it.

Right now, I'm at a crossroads when it comes to my feelings about Mail.app and email/Gmail. I have multiple account (3 gmail accounts and 1 iCloud/me.com/MobileMe2). I feel that if I can't control this kind of input into my life than I'm not going to be able to trust any kind of system that I set up. So made a little wish list of all the things that I need from an email client.

So where does this put me? Do I take the time to find that "Perfect" email client? Do I go back to Mail.app attempt to make it fit my imaginary workflow?

After writing all this, I think I'm just wasting my time with a first world problem.

  1. More like distractions. I don't think I had a problem focusing on things until I had was able to get on the internet for longer than two hours in a row. ↩

  2. For the longest time, it seemed like the service was constantly going down for hours or days at a time. I haven't heard of any problems in a while, but that could just mean that people don't care anymore. ↩

  3. It is hard to beat free. Although I'm paying for it by being a small aggregated blip on some data profile, I'm having trouble fighting "the good fight" and yes, I know that all the third party apps are using IMAP to connect to gmail. ↩

Category: productivity
email