First, thanks to Peter Provost and Brad Wilson for introducing me to TRAF; I have been using the 'Getting Things Done' (GTD) system alongside my overall FranklinCovey time management system; GTD is very similar to TRAF but the order of actions is important and better in TRAF. GTD is 'Do, Delegate, Delete, Defer'. TRAF is 'Trash, Action, Refer, File'; this means you get all c--- out of the way first. I've taken TRAF and added some details around flagging, categories, to/cc, etc.
I also want to thank Jeff Sandquist. Jeff was the first Program Manager I worked with at Microsoft (Jan 2000 and on for a year or so) and I've been using on a daily basis many of the mail tricks he taught me back then; particularly, moving people around from to: to cc: (see below).
First, here's how I'm using TRAF:
T = Trash
At intervals during the day (first thing, after lunch, end-of-day) go through inbox and set to read anything useless (delete is fine as well)
R = Refer
After completing T identify anything that needs action from somebody else, not you. IMO, this is different from you needing to ask for help on an A item. The hope is that you are seeing the last of this thread.
A = Action
After completing T and R identify any mails that you can take action on without interrupting the larger flow of your day, then complete these. In some cases you will identify things that are so urgent that they need your immediate attention no matter what.
F = Follow-up
After completing T, R, and A identify things that are of various levels of importance, need action, but don't have to interrupt the larger flow of your day. Set a flag on these and set them to Read. Setup search folders: one to hold all flagged mail and one for Red Flag. I use this:
Red Flag = Need to handle or revisit by EOD
Blue Flag = Take a look by EOD if possible; track them regularly to turn them to Red Flag as necessary or to close.
Yellow Flag = Interesting but there will likely be little consequence if you don't get to them this week; track to change things to higher colors as needed; or close when you have time.
Green Flag = You have the green light to ignore these but might want to look at them sometime.
Why all the flagging? Because it allows me to really keep to a handleable minimum the mails to which I haven't yet responded but which require close tracking. This is instead of keeping them floating unread in the inbox. The result for me has been that I'm able to easily keep my inbox at one screenful of mail or less (no scrollbars visible). In that past I would sometimes keep 30-100 unread items. I had always reviewed them and had a good idea of what was in there but it was stressful and I would sometimes miss things.
A few other things I do:
Set color rules for the Inbox:
Red mail = To me
Grey mail = I'm on cc:
Some bright color = From management
Use search folders:
To: = to me
Cc: = I'm on cc:
Move names between to: and cc:
If only one person is being directly addressed I move everybody else to cc:
If more than one person is being directly addressed I move everybody else to cc: I bold any name references so people can focus on what I'm asking them
Archive mail
I don't bother with much of a folder hierarchy. Here are the .pst's I use:
Projects - I have a Projects .pst with a folders for each project I'm working on and sub-folders as needed.
Reference - This is a .pst with a single folder (Reference) into which I drop anything I might want to refer to later
mm-yyyy - Whenever the read mail in my Inbox starts to pile up I create a new .pst named for the month and year. I create two folders within it: Inbox and Sent Items. When ever necessary I empty the read items from Inbox (for that month) or the Sent Items (for that month) into the appropriate folder in this .pst. Given current search capabilities this is usually all the filter I need to be able to find mails.
Personal - I'd tell you more about this but, well, it's personal :)
