SmallBizResource Blog -- Productivity

An Idea For Email That's Begging Invention

Posted by Gayle Kesten Friday, Mar 28, 2008, 12:34 PM ET

The crazy volume of email in my inbox used to freak me out. I couldn’t keep up with it, yet I couldn't pretend not to notice. So much of what I did as a managing editor of both print publications and Web sites depended on that channel of communication.

Countless heart palpatations later, I eventually came to peace with and accepted what I could not change. My thought process ended there. TechCrunch blogger Michael Arrington, however, views the overabundance of email as a bona fide business opportunity: "Someone needs to create a new technology that allows us to enjoy our life but not miss important messages. If I knew what that solution was, I’d quit this blog and go do it. Someone out there, though, has the beginning of an idea on how we can better manage our electronic communications. And he or she may someday turn that into a product and save us."

Arrington's personal solution? "I routinely declare email bankruptcy and simply delete my entire inbox. But even so, I currently have 2,433 unread emails in my inbox. "

I guess I should consider myself lucky. I only have 1,678.

What about you? How do you keep up with your email?

Productivity