Inbox Zero

I've seen a number of folks posting the common question "how do I deal with my email?" It must be a popular New Year's resolution. Here's my solution, which I got somewhere about 4 years ago.  I like to cite my sources, but there's no way I'll find it again.  4 years is a geologic era in internet time. 

1) Pull out in some way (tag, create a new folder, etc.) email that you've gotten since January 1 that actually needs to be dealt with.  Not adverts about discounts for an online store that you might shop in by the next month, you'll have 4 more adverts by then. These are requests, bills, anything that requires action.

2) Create another folder or tag titled "2013 Unfiled." Put every other email in there. All 758 of them. 

Now you have a very clean inbox AND a searchable archive if you find that you truly did need something. 

A potential Step 3 is to create more/better folders/tags to dump emails in.  If you had 758 emails in your inbox, then the folder system is probably not up to snuff.  For example, I need to use my "Little League" folder more often, because baseball emails tend to pile up.  I need to keep them to keep track of practice time changes, etc.but then they later become irrelevant.

Next year, do the same thing. You'll have a "2014 Unfiled."  And each year there will be a bright shiny new inbox.  Then it's up to you when or if to delete the previous "Unfiled."

2010, I'm looking at you.

It's True, You Can't Do It All

The writing is going quite well. I have a draft of a new one-act nearly ready for revisions and reading. I am actually still working on the novel, which I never thought I might have in me. (Turns out you can write tersely, in fact to some it's preferred.)

But I haven't sung a note in I don't know how long, nor have I played guitar or banjo. I have crochet projects droopily languishing in various places around the house. I did do two shows in January, so there's that.

It's just so hard to do all the things I want to do! I do watch NCIS snuggled on the couch with the littlest barbarian, that time is inviolate. Plus there is a fabulous Valentine's dinner out planned, so that will be fun.

There's more! More! Shows to see, exercise to be...exercised.
Not to mention the have-to-dos, housework (yuk) homework (meh)
Sheesh, get off the blog, already, you're too busy!

I So Totally Called It

So K-Ice decided he was going to be a home brewer. He did his research, collected materials, talked to friends who brew their own beer, the works.

I was skeptical. I have heard of home brewers who bring over their friends to taste these works of art, only to cause violent gastrointestinal reactions.

Well, it happened. Only not in the way that I had expected. The first batch, after many measurements, recordings, changings of the recipe, turned out fine.

The second batch, a stout, with plenty of molasses, was burbling happily away this evening, when POP! We hear a noise as we're sitting in our shared office. K-Ice identified it before I could, and ran into the kitchen. Before I could get there, I got a "Don't look!" Seconds later, it was, "Can you help?"

Sure enough the whole kit and kaboodle had exploded all over the kitchen. We're talking the same level of Gordie's "Barf-O-Rama" in "Stand By Me." Only it's not purple. It looked like the violent gastrointestinal illness I was expecting.

Except it's on the ceiling.