Episode 246: Preventing Pileups (Redux)

Getting to Good Enough

Bothered by an overabundance of paper and email? This episode is for you. Last week, Shannon and Janine discussed working through backlogs and this week we share some strategies for creating systems so those backlogs don't come back. Specifically we talk about ideas for email, snail mail and paper in general.

Discussion topics include:

• How having a system allows you to bounce back when stuff piles up during transitions

• That it’s totally normal for systems to fail sometimes

• The more successful your system, the smoother things will go

• Creating systems for email

• Automating systems as much as possible

• Unsubscribing from email lists

• The value of daily attention to email

• Shannon’s strategy for handling her email by ignoring it most of the time

• Freedom Filer, the filing system that changed Shannon’s life

• Being very discerning about the paper you want to keep in your life

• Shannon’s need for a system for storing her cartoons and urban sketch notebooks

• Keeping accessibility top of mind when setting up storage systems