The service is still in beta, but the latest version has given me more space (200mb) and it lets me tag multiple notes. I can now share my notes publicly. Shared notebooks can be hosted on their own URL, or you can view them as RSS feeds, or even as widgets. I have embedded a widget below to show you. The desktop application still makes my life much easier, because I can grab content from webpages, which I distribute to my students via E-mail. This spares me from .timeout headaches that occur all too frequently

I have also been playing with a service from Twine.com, which offers much of the same functionality and plenty more. The trouble is that it is still very much a closed beta so I have no opportunity to share any of my notebooks called twines with anyone who is not already a member.

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I have to give a presentation tomorrow on ways of making better use of Email.

I initiated it after noticing that important information was sometimes being lost, because people are being overwhelmed with dozens of daily messages that are long, unstructured and not always relevant. I figured it was time to think about how our school could get more done by writing shorter and more focused messages that are easier for people to process. These ideas are strongly influenced by the work of Merlin Mann at 43 Folders who wrote a series of posts called Inbox Zero.

It is worth noting that Google hired Mann to give a talk to them to help them get their Email under control even though Google write Email software and have the most talented computer scientists on the planet.

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Tags: Email, GTD, Inbox Zero

Mann’s view is that we spend too much time scanning our Email inboxes that are full of old and new messages, which may or may not be useful. Having an overloaded and cluttered inbox contribute to the confusion and stress of modern knowledge workers, because they keep allowing themselves to get interrupted before they achieve meaningful workflow. The Observer cites research suggesting that chronic Email interruptus contributes to workplace stress and a feeling that everything is out of control. See this article.

In such situations, lots of information is buried into one big compost heap so it is not obvious where to look for reference material while future actions are all over the place. David Allen calls this out of control information overload, “stuff”.

A more useful approach is to deal with incoming messages in a ruthless and efficient manner. Here are few useful tips that I have been trying to practice

• Only check your inbox at set periods in the day rather than all the time.
• Only answer Emails that need a response.
• Answer messages when you read them if it takes less than 2 minutes to respond.
• Keep messages short and to the point. Messages should start with the main point and end soon after.
• Messages that take longer than 2 minutes to deal with should be moved into an action folder to remind you to act on it later.
• Create templates for common message types to save time drafting the message.
• Messages that involve waiting for someone to respond to you should be moved to a “waiting for” folder
• Useless Emails should be deleted immediately. Make sure your anti spam filers are working.
• Dealt with messages should be deleted or archived rather than kept in your inbox.
• Make sure that no messages are in your inbox at the end of the day. Messages in the “action” and “waiting for” folders have been put in there for later action.
• Review the “action” and “waiting for” folders when you are processing your Emails.
• Encourage colleagues to write short Emails to you that have actions or useful and relevant information points that are directly relevant to shared projects.
• Discourage colleagues from distributing messages to contact or mailing lists unless it is useful or relevant to all the recipients. General reference material could be posted in an intranet.

If you want to get into the black arts of inbox zero then you should listen Merlin Mann’s recent talk at Google while following the slideshow below. You shouldn’t beat yourself up if you have an out of control Email situation, because Google emplys the brightest software engineering minds who have developed amazing Email tools yet they still need to spend money on productivity gurus to help them make the best use of their software tools.

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