Other than the backlog itself, it’s clear from my conversations with y’all that filing is a huge source of confusion and a big challenge for many of you when it comes to your email systems.

So here’s an excerpt from the forthcoming Easier Email guidebook about organizing and filing your messages.

[ Tip: Everything you're about to read applies to organizing your paper records as well. ]

• • • • •

First and most importantly, in order to make your filing work, you must distinguish between active and reference-only messages. Trying to organize both types in the same way is the root of most filing problems.

Active messages are in-progress and requires some sort of action. There’s something specific you want to do with them.

Reference-only messages are records of past actions or communications you need to save for future reference should the need arise (but likely won’t). Most messages in this category are financial or other transactional communications that you need to keep for legal or similar reasons. In contrast to active messages, they are passive.

Because you don’t need to do anything with them, reference-only messages are easily archived by project or sender – what or who generated them. Drop them into an appropriately labeled digital file folder and you’re done.

When filing reference messages, avoid getting too granular with your categories. Start with broad groupings. Your records will tell you when it’s time to divide (usually when it takes a bit longer to find something you need than you’d like it to). In the meantime, put things where you would first look for them (not where you think you should put it because that’s what someone else told you to do). Trust and rely on the ever-improving powers of the search features of email programs and services. And match your organizational efforts to the likelihood that you will ever need to find this thing again. Keep it simple, sweethearts.

Active messages, on the other hand, must be organized by the actions they require – and grouping them by project or sender likely won’t tell you what to do with them. Plus, filing is a form of out-of-sight-out-of-mind. Active messages must remain visibly in front of you in some way.

And keeping them visibly in front of you – or at least the actions they require – may mean moving them into a different space than your inbox.

For me, any message that requires more than a straightforward answer (something needs to be decided or coordinated before I can reply) is forwarded to my favorite project management program so the action can be added to my weekly to-do list (otherwise that mini-project will never get done and then *shazam* I’ve got a backlog). You could create a “pending” or “in progress” folder to hold such messages until they have been handled if you like. And once completed, they can be archived like all other reference messages.

For instance, filing a potential testimonial by sender doesn’t tell you what to do with it. Creating a folder labeled “testimonials” would be better. But unless gathering testimonials is a regular part of a marketing routine that points you to that folder, its contents are going to be forgotten. Getting that action – “request approval to share comments as testimonial” – on to your to-do list gives you the best chance of follow-through. And your in-box can’t effectively function as your to-do list because it isn’t action specific and it can’t show you this task in the context of everything else you need to do.

If you’re getting bogged down in active messages, this is likely an indication that the systems that feed your email aren’t as clear as they need to be. This is not a filing problem, but a lack of clarity about where email fits into the larger processes of your business and life.

Similarly, messages that don’t require immediate action or need to be saved for your records – a newsletter with useful information that you want to reference in future, for instance – also likely need to be moved to a space other than your inbox in order to be useful rather than forgotten. I prefer a service like Evernote over a project management service for creating such a centralized “library” of materials, which can also include snippets from the internet, and my own notes.

Again, the information you keep must correspond to and support other active systems and endeavors (learning, marketing, content development, etc.) – otherwise they have no reason to arrive in your inbox in the first place, or to be saved there or anyplace else. To do otherwise is a recipe for overwhelm and guilt.

• • • • •

Like this excerpt? Want more? Reserve your copy of Easier Email and make a date with your overflowing inbox to give it some much-needed TLC – and save some moolah in the process as a reward for planning ahead. – details here

One thing we’ve been practicing in The Guild is regularly pausing to acknowledge our accomplishments of the day and week, finding satisfaction in what we’ve done, and then celebrating.

This needs practicing because, for most of us, this is not our default setting. We unthinkingly choose to keep working instead of pausing. We habitually focus on how much more there is to do instead of how much we’ve actually done.

And we’re really rusty on this unplugging and celebration stuff.

So here are eight ways you can bring celebration back into the rhythm of your days and weeks – ideas to grease your party machine and limber up your celebration muscles.

1. Track your wishful moments during the week.

“Ooh, I’d love to go see that movie!” etc. We have such impulses all the time and then – in our focus, discipline and I can’t right now – forget them come time recreate, rest and celebrate. Just as you might track any other type of idea that came to you while you were working, create a running list of your wishful R&R moments and keep it somewhere for easy reference at the end of the day or week.

2. Review event listings/ads in your local weekly newspaper(s).

Bonus: do it in a café or pub during Friday happy hour. Similarly: think like a tourist. Treat yourself as an out-of-town-guest. Do the stuff you only do when you want to show off your hometown (you don’t need to wait for visitors).

3. Think childhood.

What did you and your family do on the weekends when you were a kid (that you enjoyed, of course)? Bring it back in some way. While Saturday morning cartoons don’t really do it for me anymore, nothing says weekend to me like brunch and Prairie Home Companion. Happy times.

4. Think party planning.

How do you celebrate the other milestones of your life? Bring the gestures of birthdays and anniversaries – cake, champagne, flowers, presents, fancy clothes, dancing, gatherings – into your celebration of your week in some way.

5. Celebration is in the details.

Sunday brunch at home is relaxing. Sunday brunch at home on the nice “special occasion” plates is celebratory. If you’re like me and save things for “special occasions” – the extra-nice dishes, wine, chocolate, bubble bath or shoes –  bust them out and use them. Find ways to put the cherry on top. Whatever you did this week is special enough.

6. Create a reward system.

This can be tricky since, in my book, the real reward is in the accomplishments themselves. But a system of if I do X, I get to do/have Y can contribute to your sense of celebration. It’s kind of like bringing presents to the party (see #4). For such a system to work, it needs to be specific and measurable (e.g., I wrote 500 words today, so now I get to buy one song on iTunes) – and you have to follow through on your promises to yourself.

7. Create a “puttering basket.”

This is something I invented for myself back in 2009. And in addition to the ideas below, your basket could include anything that came from the above suggestions (your wishful moments list, newspapers, nostalgia, party supplies, extra-nice things, rewards, etc.)

One of the trickiest things about unplugging is being so rusty at it. We are so much more practiced at doing our jobs. So, even when we give ourselves time to play and refill our professional wells, we don’t always know what to do with that time. And in the absence of something else compelling, we can find ourselves drifting back to work. Because it’s familiar and comfortable. Because this being-not-doing thing is awkward and weird. Which doesn’t make sense considering how much we crave it – which makes it that much more weird. Better just to go back to work where we know what we’re doing.

Except that’s hardly satisfying or sustainable.

So, in the spirit of creating a flotation device for myself that would support me in those awkward moments of not knowing what to do besides work, I made myself a Puttering Basket. Basically, my weekend rule is this: in a transitional moment when I’m not sure what I want to do next and I’m tempted to turn on the computer (which is off-limits), I have to go to the basket. I can do anything I like, so long as it’s in the basket. (Maybe that sounds confining and counter-intuitive, but having endless options is overwhelming and not helpful.)

So, obviously, it matters what’s in the basket. For the most part, it’s a toy box filled with fun stuff to do. Right now, it holds:

- magazines for reading, and then tearing up for “mirror boards” and collages
- books to be read solely for pleasure
- crosswords and playing cards
- markers and coloring books- the latest crafty project
- something domestic I want to research or organize: my recipe binder, a garden plan, a renewed pilates practice
- an iPod or tablet loaded with favorite music and podcasts (pairs nicely with the crafting and organizing)
- cards and stationery for sending notes to people I love
- blank paper for capturing random ideas

And here’s the most important thing I’ve learned: the puttering basket has to be stocked before the weekend. You can’t go looking for this stuff in that awkward moment of transition. You’ll just end up at your computer working. Or watching Very Bad TV. Trust me. You’re rusty, remember?

So part of my Friday closing-the-week ritual is stocking my Puttering Basket with all the fun little things I didn’t have time for during the week. The stuff I want to do, but never seem to get to.

In the end, my Puttering Basket is a good example of two of the basic organizing principles I live by:

- everything is easier if you start with a container
- everything needs two places to belong: storage + space on your calendar

Many of the fun little things that allow me to relax and refill my well now have a place to belong – in the basket and in my weekend. Which makes them much more likely to happen – and happen with ease.

8. Address your depletion.

If the notion of celebration feels, well, like an advanced practice, just focus on addressing your depletion. Because what is restorative has a lot in common with feels celebratory.

• If you’re physically tired: rest and get body work.
• If you feel isolated: connect with people in some way.
• If you’re anxious: burn the stress off by moving in nature.
• If you’re taking things a little too seriously: go to a funny movie or comedy improv show.
• If you feel uninspired: go to a concert or museum and experience some fabulous art
• And so on…

Keep in mind that contrasts are refreshing. Unplugging is not about doing nothing, it’s about doing something that is the opposite or different from what you usually do during the week.

• • • • •

I’m posting this on a Thursday because I want you to put this into practice this weekend.

Just as we do each week in The Guild, really acknowledge all you’ve done in recent days, find satisfaction in it, and then step away from all that doing to celebrate it and refill your well (trust me, it will make next week’s doing that much better).

Party on, lovelies. You’ve done more than enough chores. It’s time to go to the ball.

It’s rather blooming and balmy in Portland right now.

I often think the Color of the Month for April should be pink because there’s so much of it around here. Camelias, rhodies, azaleas. First the cherry trees, then the dogwoods. Of course there are daffodils, tulips, pansies, lilacs, irises and whatnot blooming in other shades. But mostly it’s pink, pink, pink. Everywhere.

And this weekend I was inspired to bring as much of it inside as I could. Who cares if it makes my nose run even more? It’s all too beautiful to resist.

Every room in the house has a fresh bouquet. And it makes me ridiculously happy. (Also a little sneeze-y.)

• • • • •

Lately, some of my leisure hours (more than I’d like to admit) have been devoted to defending my virtual home from virtual zombies with the virtual plants in my virtual backyard. The appeal of this particular game is probably full of metaphors and lessons for my life, not least this: you always start with enough sun to plant your first plant. You never start from zero. It’s true of all resource management games. And it’s true in life. You’re always given enough resources to begin. (Of course, you have to choose wisely and leverage those resources to survive the zombie onslaught, but that’s another metaphor/lesson for another post.)

When it comes to self-care, when I’m depleted, I tend to see everything through the lens of scarcity. Drained, I’m blind to the plenty around me. But there are always enough resources available to me in that moment to begin replenishing my reserves.

Like flowers.

Cut flowers always feel a luxury to me, but I didn’t pay a dime for any of this. Most of it came from our own yard, what was growing over the fence from neighbor’s yards, or the abandoned house two doors down. It was all steps outside my door. And more just keeps blooming. (Looking forward to it, Peonies.)

I am surrounded by plenty. I just have to take off the grey-tinted glasses of lack and bring it into my life.

• • • • •

What resources are available to you in this very moment that would begin to replenish your reserves?

• • • • •

[ from the Aerogramme... ]

I’ve done it again. I’ve disappeared into my garret. So immersed myself in creation that all sorts of regular connection and maintenance have fallen away.

I don’t recall what made me come up for air – maybe it was needing to file taxes, or that weird achy pain, the overgrown yard, or a pile that couldn’t be ignored any more – but look up and look around I did. And this is what I saw:

The areas of my life that are the most stressful, the most likely to become disruptive, the most likely to generate a crisis, are the areas of my life that need daily attention to be healthy and functional. Not annually. Not quarterly. Not monthly. Not weekly as I might wish. Daily.

It’s been both an inspiring epiphany and a challenging realization.

“But, but, but!” says my Inner Arteest, “If you’re doing all that maintenance, when will we make things?!”

There have been negotiations. Reassurances. Of course I’m not going to stop making things. And of course there will still be frequent opportunities for immersion and flow. Because flow is pretty much the best thing ever. Just not at the expense of everything else.

That artist-in-her-garret thing is sexy. That rushed push to completion is sexy. Complete immersion is sexy. But it doesn’t work. Not really. Not in a sustainable way.

What works – though it’s decidedly less seductive – is that slow-and-steady-wins-the-race thing. It’s the tortoise, not the hare, that’s the real hotty.

This has been the great lesson for all of us in The Guild: ambitious projects need consistent effort and steady support – the kind that comes from using your systems and engaging in regular maintenance.

The tensions  between…

• preparation and living in the moment
• solitude and connection
• creation and maintenance
• immersion and  doing a “little bit every day”

…that so often feel irreconcilable are actually symbiotic and synergistic.

That’s my hypothesis anyway. So I am experimenting with very specific daily to-do lists to find out:

• How much maintenance is within my daily capacity?
• At what point does it shift from being supportive of my creativity to crowding it out?
• Will things change for the better – will I create less stress and more stability and momentum as I anticipate – by giving these areas of my life daily attention?

Time will tell. And then I will tell you. Specifically, I’m giving this experiment one month. If it works – booyah! – I’ll know how to approach my summer quarter and I will have something useful to share with you. If not, well, I’ll just conduct another experiment. And at least I’ll know more about what not to do. And I can share that too. That’s how this time management stuff works. So stay tuned…

• • • • •

That said, all that creative immersion and steady effort has been good for something. Specifically, I am nearly finished with the self-study version of my Easier Email workshop – great news for those of you who wanted to participate back in February, but it wasn’t quite the right thing at the right time. The guide to clearing your inbox and keeping it that way is coming soon!

• • • • •

And now it’s time for me to close and engage in a little maintenance – namely: lunch. Followed by a walk. (It’s been crazy beautiful here in Portland – all balmy and blooming – making it the outdoors irresistible.)

Here’s hoping you are finding the sweet spots of balance in your own life,
-Cairene

The first in a series featuring inspiring ideas and discoveries I’ve bookmarked and evernoted…

When it comes to mise en place – both as a practice and a metaphor – Tony says pretty much everything that needs saying…

“Mise-en-place is the religion of all good line cooks. Do not fuck with a line cook’s “meez” – meaning his setup, his carefully arranged supplies of sea salt, rough-cracked pepper, softened butter, cooking oil, wine, backups and so on. As a cook, your station, and its conditions, its state of readiness, is an extension of your nervous system – and it is profoundly upsetting is another cook or, God forbid, a waiter disturbs your precisely and carefully laid-out system.

“The universe is in order when your station is set up the way you like it: you know where to find everything with your eyes closed, everything you need during the course of the shift is at the ready at arm’s reach, your defenses are deployed. If you let your mise-en-place run down, get dirty and disorganized, you’ll quickly find yourself spinning in place and calling for back up.

“I worked with a chef who used to step behind the line to a dirty cook’s station in the middle of the rush to explain why the offending cook was falling behind. He’d press his palm down on the cutting board, which was littered with peppercorns, spattered sauce, bits of parsley, bread crumbs and the usual flotsam and jetsam that accumulates quickly on a station if not constantly wiped away with a moist side towel. ‘You see this?’ he’d inquire, raising his palm so that the cook could see the bits of dirt and scraps sticking to his chef’s palm, ‘That’s what the inside of your head looks like now. Work clean!‘”

–Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential

• • • • •

Of course, having a good mise en place applies to more than food preparation…

During an interview with Thomas Keller, chef and owner of Per Se and French Laundry, Charlie Rose asked Keller about the failure of one of his early restaurants.

CR: When you failed, though, did you think you weren’t producing good food?

TK: No, I knew I was producing good food, but I wasn’t prepared.  As a chef, as a cook, you go into service with a mise en place, everything you need to have a successful service.  I knew how to do that as a cook, but I didn’t know how to do my mise en place to have a restaurant.

Do you know how to set up your meez for your business? To complete your important projects?
Are the right tools and ingredients in place and at your fingertips?
Is your workspace set up the way you like it?
What does the inside of your head look like right now? Are you working clean?

Because your meez is the difference between success and failure. It really is all in how you set yourself up.

• • • • •

Not persuaded by Bourdain or Keller? Check out this video from Gluten Free Girl’s [swoon! GFG has change my cooking life. Ratios! Systems! And beautiful writing. Again: swoon.] Danny Ahern, in which he plainly (and somewhat painfully) demonstrates the big difference between a dish cooked in unprepared haste and one cooked with prepared calm.

Mise en Place from Daniel Ahern on Vimeo: Cooking without everything ready is frantic and no fun. Cooking with all the ingredients prepped makes the job lovely.

• • • • •

Want to learn more about how to prepare your mise en place for whatever projects you’re cooking up right now? Join me in The Guild. The program opens March 4. Early registrations closes tomorrow, Sunday, February 17.

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I know that 10% of my Aerogramme subscribers open my missives within 15-20 minutes of me sending them. Another 5% open them within the first hour.

On the one hand, I am flattered and humbled by this phenomena. On the other hand, I know better. Even if you are an enthusiastic fan (thank you!), I know this is less about your relationship with me and more about your relationship with your inbox.

Even if I play a role in the success of your business (and I hope I do), I’m pretty confident that reading an Aerogramme is not your most important work in the moment it happens to arrive.

You’re just working without boundaries that prevent distraction. And you’re more committed to assuaging your worry that you’ll miss something important than committed to seeing your important projects through.

Let’s face it. Checking and browsing email is generally much easier than working through the sometimes uncomfortable challenges of completion. But you can’t get sh*t done if you keep stopping to obey the ding of your email program.

Nothing is more urgent than your important work. Really, that Aerogramme will keep for a few hours.

I will be more flattered and humbled by you giving your time and energy to my missives later rather than sooner.

(And for those of you who never open them, please unsubscribe! It won’t hurt my feelings, promise. Truthfully, as a champion of the lean inbox, nothing would make me prouder than for you to release what is no longer useful to you.)

• • • • •

Want to change your relationship with your inbox? Join me February 27-28 for Easier Email.

Need better boundaries that help you stay focused and committed to completing your important work? Let’s meet under the skylight in The Guild. Opens March 4.

It’s Way Back Wednesday – in which I revisit the blog archives from this month of years past. Because there are patterns to be found. And it’s easy to forget what we already know.

Here’s a snapshot of what was going down in October 2008.

• • • • •

It’s my blogiversary! More than 350 posts began with this one published February 7, 2008.

“Inspired by their confident intuition, I too begin.”

Amazingly, I’m still not bored or unimpressed with this post – it remains one of my all-time favorites.

• • • • •

That same month I discovered Martha Beck’s super-useful take on the difference between monochrones and polychrones, transition anxiety, and what she calls “the art of the dismount.” I expect it’s what got me to thinking about the importance of transitions. And I still talk about sticking your landing with clients. And I still love to work in my pajamas.

• • • • •

Ever the science geek, later that month I attempted to tie Newton’s First and Second Laws to productivity.

PACE (acceleration) = DO MORE (force) / LIGHTEN UP (mass)

There’s no avoiding physics. And I still think this is pretty great equation for success.

• • • • •

Sadly, February now includes another anniversary. Our beloved dog Max reached the end of his long and wonderful  life with us earlier this month. There’s a lot I could say about all the beautiful ways he expanded my experience and understanding of the world, of being present in the now, of optimism, and of love. But I still can’t get through even that short sentence without tearing up, so this will have to serve as my memorial for now: Everything I Need To Know About Self Care, I’ve Learned From My Dog.

• • • • •

In celebration of my blogiversary, I’m making the Anthology available for just $17 through the month of February.

The Anthology is a collection of my favorite articles written between 2008-2011. It’s 196 pages of material born from the everyday, hands-on experience of crafting a life and business that is both sane and rewarding.

This retrospective includes practical observations and guidance on the topics of • systems • money, law and technology • planning • success and failure • overwhelm • choosing priorities • transitions • finishing • practice and perfectionism • radical self-acceptance • learning • self-care • organizing your space and stuff • and more. And the blogiversary edition also includes three of my favorite articles from 2012 (that’s 70 essays altogether – and insight at 25 cents apiece!). Get your hands on a copy here.

The last in a series of questions to answer before you move forward with an idea, project or plan…

#1: What is the magnitude of what you are trying to achieve?
#2: How much of this is new?
#3: Is there a way to test this?
#4: Does this require ongoing experimentation?
#5: Does this require you to promise something before it is complete?
#6: Will this require more than three months to deliver?
#7: Will this plan allow you to easily transition to the next thing?
#8: Does this support future projects?
#9: Is this in alignment with your mission?
#10: Is this in alignment with your values?
#11: Is this in alignment with your desired lifestyle?
#12: Does this honor your strengths and preferences?
#13: Is the form determined by the function?
#14: Does this involve making up for a past failure?
#15: Can this be simplified?
#16: Are you willing to create the systems necessary to support this?
#17: Is this scalable?
#18: Will this require doing more than one thing at a time?
#19: Will this require tapping into the type of energy you just used?
#20: Will this require working against the energy of the season?
#21: Is this plan common-cold proof?
#22: Are there sufficient recovery periods?

• • • • •

Vetting Question #23
Is this plan kind to your Future Self?

Ask her.

Ask your Future Self if she’s cool with how this is all going to go down. Is she likely to thank you or curse you?

Is she going to like the state of her health when this thing is completed?
Her closest relationships?
Her bank account?
Her inbox?
Her home?

Is she going to be dealing with deficits or reserves?
Overwhelm or spaciousness?

She might be fine with the responsibilities you want to delegate to her. But don’t assume that without asking. Before moving forward, make sure this is a win-win deal for Present and Future You.

A series of questions to answer before you move forward with an idea, project or plan…

#1: What is the magnitude of what you are trying to achieve?
#2: How much of this is new?
#3: Is there a way to test this?
#4: Does this require ongoing experimentation?
#5: Does this require you to promise something before it is complete?
#6: Will this require more than three months to deliver?
#7: Will this plan allow you to easily transition to the next thing?
#8: Does this support future projects?
#9: Is this in alignment with your mission?
#10: Is this in alignment with your values?
#11: Is this in alignment with your desired lifestyle?
#12: Does this honor your strengths and preferences?
#13: Is the form determined by the function?
#14: Does this involve making up for a past failure?
#15: Can this be simplified?
#16: Are you willing to create the systems necessary to support this?
#17: Is this scalable?
#18: Will this require doing more than one thing at a time?
#19: Will this require tapping into the type of energy you just used?
#20: Will this require working against the energy of the season?
#21: Is this plan common-cold proof?

• • • • •

Vetting Question #22
Does this plan allow sufficient recovery periods during and after completion?

Where are the inhales that balance the exhales?

For this plan – and the one that follows it – to reach a successful conclusion, you must give yourself sufficient space to recharge your batteries.

If your intuition says you’re overreaching – that this is too much in too little time – you probably are. Drop your ego and address the fears that are driving that magical thinking that has you believing you can keep pulling rabbits out of your hat without ever taking a break.

• • • • •

Next (and last): Vetting Question #23 – Is this plan kind to your Future Self?

A series of questions to answer before you move forward with an idea, project or plan…

#1: What is the magnitude of what you are trying to achieve?
#2: How much of this is new?
#3: Is there a way to test this?
#4: Does this require ongoing experimentation?
#5: Does this require you to promise something before it is complete?
#6: Will this require more than three months to deliver?
#7: Will this plan allow you to easily transition to the next thing?
#8: Does this support future projects?
#9: Is this in alignment with your mission?
#10: Is this in alignment with your values?
#11: Is this in alignment with your desired lifestyle?
#12: Does this honor your strengths and preferences?
#13: Is the form determined by the function?
#14: Does this involve making up for a past failure?
#15: Can this be simplified?
#16: Are you willing to create the systems necessary to support this?
#17: Is this scalable?
#18: Will this require doing more than one thing at a time?
#19: Will this require tapping into the type of energy you just used?
#20: Will this require working against the energy of the season?

• • • • •

Vetting Question #21
Is this plan common-cold proof?

Could you be away from your work for a week (whether due to a cold or the gajillion other things the Universe might throw at you) and still complete this plan?

Does everything have to go perfectly for it to turn out well?

Every good idea deserves some wiggle room. You cannot predict the future, so you need to allow for the unexpected.

Consider giving up strict deadlines in favor of more flexible timelines. And then pad them.

• • • • •

Next: Vetting Question #22 – Are there sufficient recovery periods?