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By Root 691 0

when you give it out. In other words, if your email is wienerpants@gmail .com, you can tag it thusly: wienerpants+bank@gmail.com. Emails to this address will still come to your main inbox, but the + identifier allows you to sort mail with that tag more efficiently. Following the steps above, just tell Gmail that whenever that specific +tag comes through it should sort it into a label of your choosing. Again, some companies’ email entry systems are confused by +tag and will scold you to enter a valid email address (but I AM, you robotic asscan!). If the tag doesn’t work, instead add a “.” anywhere in your Gmail address. Ever get someone else’s email that has your name but it looked different? If you have VernSpermly@gmail.com, you will also get mail addressed to Vern.Spermly@gmail.com. Or V.ernSpermly@gmail.com. Or V.e.r.n.S.p.e.r.m.l.y@gmail.com. If you don’t wish to set up a separate account and go through that business, you can give out a dotted version of your Gmail address to jerks who want to sell you shit and create a filter with that specific configuration of your addy.

I first discovered the +tag years ago on Lifehacker (lifehacker .com) and I cannot recommend that site enough. There is a wealth of articles on how to streamline your digital life, and the people who blog and run it are a nice bunch of Nerds who will give you all sorts of tech tips. The first time you go there, say good-bye to your day because you will get sucked into one great article after another.

ARCHIVE!

Gmail’s archive feature is your digital closet. Every few weeks, I make sure that my in-box is full of stuff that I’ve taken care of, or I star the things that still need attention and move topic-specific emails into corresponding labels. Then I select the empty checkbox that floats above the vertical row of checkboxes. A notice will pop up: “All 50 conversations on this page are selected. Select all XX conversations in Inbox” (the latter phrase will be hyperlinked). I select it and consequently it selects every piece of mail in my inbox. Then I click the bolded “Archive” button in the menu bar just above my emails. They are sent to a label called “All Mail,” which is accessible and searchable whenever, and my in-box is CLEAN. An empty inbox won’t last long if you’re a busy person, but it sure feels niiiiiiiiiice.

SNAIL MAIL

Though its title is somewhat speciest (species racist) toward the shelled molluscan gastropods, piles of mail manage to find their way into every crevice like so much shit glitter. It STILL happens in my life. Not a week goes by and somehow a fresh drift of unopened bills and solicitations blanket my workspace. The obvious solution is to open your mail and deal with it the second you get it. This, of course, is not always a possibility. Here’s what I try to do:

Eliminate Mail at the Source!

• Opt out of every credit card company list.

• Set bills on “autopay” and/or select “paperless billing.”

Gather ’n’ Sort!

• If you have time to grab your mail, you have time to quickly drop it into three piles: junk, not junk, and unknown.

• Push the junk pile into your shredder.

• Open the unknowns first, because they are most likely shrouded junk and can be tossed.

Set It and (Don’t) Forget It!

• Quickly prepare anything that requires action for the next step.

• If it’s a bill, remove the extraneous leaflets, tear off at the perforation, and shred it. (PS—you should have a shredder to protect your identity from sentient garbage rats.)

• Pair the piece you need with its accompanying envelope.

• Place all of your “waiting for next step” mail in a neat pile near your checkbook (I put mine between my keyboard and monitor) so that when you have time, all you have to do is write a check or respond to that wedding invitation with a “YES” and “CHICKEN.”

TRACKING YOUR TIME

So we’ve established that time slips through your dainty fingers like a slick water weenie, so how can you begin to get a handle on it for output purposes? The title of this chapter might offer you a little clue. Or the