我手写我心

有人说这则故事给人的感悟是：珍惜现在所拥有的。我不否认这句话的真谛，但是却想认认真真地思考“未得到和已失去”这句话的真实内涵之所在。

人活在这个世界上，幸福和快乐似乎总是和我们相隔甚远，却觉得总是有着那么多的痛苦和悲伤。其实，这是人性丑陋的一面的真实反映，因为“人心不足蛇吞象”，对于自己享受到的幸福和快乐总是视而不见，就象跟人博弈打牌那样，输的时候总是耿耿于怀而赢得的时候却记忆模糊。这也就是因为未得到和已失去的理念在左右着人们的思想观念：得不到的，永远是最美丽的；而已失去的，却永远是最珍贵的。当你看到别人生活快乐，就会羡慕，因为未得到和已失去；看到别人升官发财，也会羡慕，也因为未得到和已失去；看到别人夫妻恩爱，还会羡慕，还因为未得到和已失去；看到别人……其实有很多很多。举一个具体明了的例子来说说：为什么每个人对初恋的情怀一生难忘，为什么当爱情失去后会那么的悲恸欲绝，其实也是在于未得到和已失去。幸福的真谛在于珍惜和满足现在所拥有的，但是未得到和已失去，却是人世间所有遗憾、悲伤、痛苦的潘多拉之盒。世间多凡人，往往大多数的人更看重的是未得到和已失去，只是固守着现在所拥有的，即所谓的随遇而安！人生如逆水行舟，不进则退。未得到和已失去，是一种欲望。人最悲伤的就是未得到和已失去，如果你换个角度想呢？答案大相庭径，就是已得到和未失去！

不妨用“未得到和已失去的”的话题来看世上的男男女女们：女人是不容易满足的，美丽的容貌，漂亮的衣裳，炫丽的首饰，对女人永远有着不可抵御的吸引力。相比较而言，女人更实在，更物质，尤其是在这个物欲横流的年代。未得到和已失去，对于女人来讲，有着巨大的诱惑力。而男人呢，男人是喜新厌旧的，当一个男人喜欢上一个女人的时候，其实是想得到这个女人的身体，未得到之前，极尽所能的讨巧，当得到之后，假如女人不能变着花样保持男人好奇，那么，就会像玩具般被男人遗弃。在恋爱中，女人渴望男人裸露心灵，男人希望女人裸露身体，很精辟的一句话啊。人与人之间是讲求缘分的，可不是完全讲求缘分，缘分只是负责让你们认识，之后的事就要看各自是否有心珍惜了吧。对待感情，往往很少有人会珍惜现在所拥有的，更多的是在不停的挥霍！感情出轨，可以看做是一种偶然，也可以说是一种必然。每个人都希望自己遇到艳遇，只是区别在于条件是否允许。但是也有一个前提，欲望谁都有，但是每个人的自制力不同，克制住了，是为圣人，克制不住，即为凡人。

呵呵，那些盲目地死心眼地认定当初的抉择、那些失眠时掉的眼泪、那些放在心里反反复复想说却没有说出口的话、那些痴迷到不计得失交付出去的热情还有那些放低自尊苦苦追问的答案……所有的一切都变得无迹可寻。“过我眼即我有”，这句话既是自嘲，也不仅是自嘲。苍茫宇宙，孤单前行，就如两只蚂蚁相遇，能拥抱一下更好，不能也算了，目光送她离去，反正总要离去的。未得到和已失去，就犹如饕餮，贪婪的吞噬着每个人的欲望。在未得到中挣扎，在已失去中迷失，谁也无法逃避。玫瑰的魅力在于绽放，樱花的绚丽在于凋零。已经失去的因永不再来而显得珍贵，还没有得到的因潜意识中不可预计的美好而令人激动，没得到的是好是坏并无从证明，而失去的东西却会在无数次追忆里日趋完好。我们一定要珍惜我们所拥有的，而不要一直沉浸在已失去的痛苦之中。所谓的要化悲痛为力量，就是激励我们从中得到继续奋斗的动力啊！

*******************************************************************

VMware: 扩展硬盘空间

Steps:
1)  关闭要扩展的虚拟机。
2)  打开主机DOS命令窗口，用"cd"命令转到VMware安装路径:

D:\soft\VMware\VMware Workstation>vmware-vdiskmanager.exe -x 20GB "d:\My Virtual
Machines\Windows XP Professional\Windows XP Professional.vmdk"
注明：  

    a) -x 表示extend；
    b) 20Gb表示要扩展之后要达到的总空间；

   c) 要扩展的vmdk，不能带snapshot。如果有，需删除后再做扩展；
    如果虚拟机没有跟VMware server放在同一目录，需要带上虚拟机的路径(d:\xxx)。
4) 等待主机分配空间

Using log file C:\Temp\vmware-zhangb\vdiskmanager.log
  Grow: 100% done.
The old geometry C/H/S of the disk is: 16383/16/63
The new geometry C/H/S of the disk is: 16383/16/63
Disk expansion completed successfully.

WARNING: If the virtual disk is partitioned, you must use a third-party
         utility in the virtual machine to expand the size of the
         partitions. For more information, see:
         http://www.vmware.com/support/kb/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1647

5) 启动虚拟机.
6)如果虚拟机中没有其他分区，则在虚拟机中打开DOS命令窗口,输入diskpart.exe。 此时DOS路径会消失，命令窗口显示DISKPART>
a) 输入DISKPART>list volume.屏幕会列出所有硬盘分区，自己对照盘符，确定D盘对应哪个volume,假设对应volume 2
b) 输入DISKPART>select volume 2.
c) 输入DISKPART>extend
d) 完成。

****************************************************************

7) 如果虚拟机中有其他分区，则要在虚拟机上安装第三方分区工具，例如Norton PartitionMagic，用它在虚拟机上重新设置分区大小，重启系统生效。

Use your technology
1. Measure your readability(above 50)
2. Avoid passive sentences (less than 25%)
3. Use the Thesaurus (shift + F7)
4. Run spell check every time
5. Proofread to perfection

4 tips:

Tips1 Remember your purpose

Tips2  Perfect your language

Tips3  Structure your message

Tips4  Personalise your Communication

下完班，赶到交大闵行的菁菁堂，门口的同学告诉我教室都满了，只有去上院500 看实况直播。 已经讲到第六条了。凭着回忆记录如下：

1) 用胸怀去接受不能改变的事情，用勇气改变可能改变的事情，用智慧区别这两种事情，
  不要花时间在不能改变的事情上，而要将精力集中在可能改变的事情上，
  专注于可能改变的事情，最终不可能改变的事情也有可能改变；
  活到老，学到老，求知若饥，虚心若愚
  STAY HUNGRY， STAY FOOLISH

eg. 从30万份邮件中，找到了证实自己并没有违约的证据，打赢了离职官司。

2) 创业的勇气

随着年龄的增长，每一次选择的机会成本会越来越大。随之对应的，是作出选择时需要的勇气越来越多。我相信，根据一般人的经验，一定时间之后，年龄与勇气的增长就成了反比。

3） 提问环节：

如何面对遗憾。没能圆梦哈佛，怎么对待？

创新工场的孵化模式有别于初期的天使投资人

4)Lead yourlife而不是Live your life（过一生）

也就是说，不要只是过一生，而是要用你的梦想引领你的一生，要用感恩、真诚、助人圆梦的心态引领你的一生，要用执著、无惧、乐观的态度来引领你的一生。如果你做到了这些，人的一生就不会再有遗憾。

5) 智慧就在心里
  心一直都在跳，它一直都在告诉我们，我们想要成为怎样的人，想要怎样的人生
  让你的心告诉你，想做什么样的人，想要什么样的人生，
  跟随你的心去做选择，当有一天可以将它们串起来的时候，它们会成为一条美丽的人生曲线；

6）最高级的管理：用自己想被管理的方式去管理别人。

7) 成为很好的领导者，首先要成为值得尊敬、尊敬别人的人，成为值得信任的人；

8) 墓志铭测验：

你想在墓志铭上写的东西，就是你留给这个世界的东西，就是你的人生意义和人生理想，
   世界因你而不同，有你的世界和没你的世界的差别，就是你存在的意义，
   有容德乃大，无求品自高
   你的价值并不是你拥有多少，而是你留下多少。

附录：

下面我把这十个启示贴出来，与大家分享。

1、  自信不失谦虚，谦虚不失自信；

2、  天赋就是兴趣，兴趣就是天赋；

3、  思考比传道更重要，观点比解惑更重要；

4、  我不同意你，但我支持你；

5、  挫折不是惩罚，而是学习的机会；

6、  创新不重要，有用的创新才重要；

7、  用勇气改变可以改变的事情，用胸怀接受不能改变的事情，用智慧分辨两者的不同；

8、  求知若饥，虚心若愚；

9、  追随你的心，用它引领你的一生，任何其他事物都是次要的；

10、你的价值不在于你拥有多少，而在于你留下多少

《冬吴相对论》是由南方报业传媒集团21世纪报系旗下《21世纪商业评论》与北京星耀天际广告有限公司联合打造的一档商业脱口秀广播节目。

　　节目由原凤凰卫视著名主持人梁冬与《21世纪商业评论》主编吴伯凡共同主持。每期都会从当下热点的社会、经济现象谈起，解读背后的真实道理。

　　节目打破以往广播财经节目严肃有余的纸媒化倾向，将轻松、睿智、人性化、平民化的广播表达手段充分融入到节目中来，从生活的视角解读经济事件的玄机，

　　在经济话题的背后探讨生活的真谛。让听众分享两位主持人的个性魅力、商业智慧和人生哲学。节目既轻松幽默，又具思考张力，是一档充满娱乐精神的高端脱口秀节目。

　　《冬吴相对论》是极具原创精神的广播脱口秀节目样式。它的节目主张是坐着为您打通经济生活任督二脉。

　　节目张弛有度，不仅可以让业内人士真切感受到主持人的个性魅力、新锐思想和商业哲学，而且普通观众也能从中得到快乐和启发。

上海到汉口全程821KM,有四趟动车,一等座327,二等座273
D3002 06:42上海发车,12:21到汉口,历时5:39
D3006 14:06上海发车,18:59到汉口,历时4:53(本次车中途不停靠车站直达汉口)
D3010 14:59上海发车,21:02到汉口,历时6:03
D3014 16:38上海发车,22:43到汉口,历时6:05

上海到武昌
D3018  09:50上海发车，16:00到武昌，历时6小时10分 一等座312,二等座260  

汉口至上海
D3004/D3001  汉口-上海 17:07 - 23:00 动车组 5小时53分钟 一等座 305元 二等座 254元
D3008/D3005  汉口-上海 08:00 - 13:47 动车组 5小时47分钟 一等座 305元 二等座 254元
D3016/D3013  汉口-上海 11:23 - 16:16 动车组 4小时53分钟 一等座 305元 二等座 254元
D3024/D3021  汉口-上海 12:41 - 18:19 动车组 5小时38分钟 一等座 305元 二等座 254元
D3012/D3009  武昌-上海 08:40 - 14:37 动车组 5小时57分钟 一等座 312元 二等座 260元
D3020/D3017  武昌-上海 16:20 - 22:22 动车组 6小时2分钟 一等座 312元 二等座 260元

危险方式1：极度缺乏体育锻炼。

　　在932名被调查者中，只有96人每周都固定时间锻炼，68%的人选择了“几乎不锻炼”。这极易造成疲劳、昏眩等现象，引发肥胖和心脑血管疾病。

危险方式2：有病不求医。

　　调查显示，将近一半的人在有病时自己买药解决，有1/3的人则根本不理会任何表面的“小毛病”。许多上班一族的疾病被拖延，错过了最佳的治疗时间，一些疾病被药物表面缓解作用掩盖而积累成大病。

危险方式5：与家人缺少交流。

　　有超过41%的办公室人群很少和家人交流，即使家人主动关心，32%的人也常抱以应付的态度。在缺乏交流、疏导和宣泄的情况下，办公室人群的精神压力与日俱增。

危险方式6：长时间处在空调环境中。

　　在上班时，超过7成的人一年四季除了外出办事外，几乎常年窝在空调房中。“温室人”的自身肌体调节和抗病能力下降。

　危险方式7：常坐不动。

　　被调查者中，有542人的工作习惯是一旦坐下来，除非上厕所，就轻易不站起来。久坐，不利于血液循环，会引发很多新陈代谢和心血管疾病；坐姿长久固定，也是颈椎、腰椎发病的重要因素。

危险方式9：面对电脑过久。

　　31%的人经常每天使用电脑超过8小时。过度使用和依赖电脑，除了辐射外，还使眼病、腰颈椎病、精神性疾病在办公室群体中十分普遍。

http://bbs.haixiachina.com/viewthread.php?tid=83953

??今天在腾讯网上看到一篇文章介绍减肥的，其中就说这个茶好。本来就想减肥的我看到后有点动心，而且腾讯的稿子利用平民化的方式叙述，的确很让人动心。我从来没吃过减肥药啊什么的，就上网一搜，发现基本上都是好的评价，有质疑的也有一两条而已。最后跟官方网站的客服要了卫生批号，上网一查居然是福建一家小茶厂99年注册的一个“天信减肥茶”名字，可笑的是现在居然是什么“apple减肥茶”还卖得很火，打着香港紫荆国际有限公司的名号！这世道骗子太多，一深究才发现其中玄机啊！！！
　　 附上跟客服聊天记录
　　 请问你们这个茶的保健字号是多少呢
　　客服-减肥茶 09:31:32
　　执行标准：Q/AXXL001-2008
　　卫生许可证：闽卫食证字（2007）第350000-000038号
　　批准文号：卫食健字（1999）第0440号
　　紫雨林 09:38:12
　　是什么天信减肥茶嘛
　　客服-减肥茶 09:39:27
　　啊？
　　紫雨林 09:39:50
　　这个字号是福建一家天信减肥茶的批号嘛
　　客服-减肥茶 09:40:50
　　嗯
　　紫雨林 09:42:50
　　那不是什么香港公司嘛
　　客服-减肥茶 09:46:46
　　我们这边只是一个客服的服务点

Virginia Woolf is remembered as both a feminist and a modernist whose novels often ignored traditional plots to follow the inner lives and musings of her characters.

Achievement as Novelist

Two of Virginia Woolf's novels in particular, Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and To the Lighthouse (1927), follow successfully the latter approach. The first novels covers a day in the life of Mrs. Dalloway in postwar London; it achieves its vision of reality through the reception by Mrs. Dalloway's mind of what Virginia Woolf called those 'myriad impressions - trivial, fantastic, evanescent, or engraved with the sharpness of steel." To the Lighthouseis, in a sense, a family portrait and history rendered in subjective depth through selected points in time. Part I deals with the time between six o'clock in the evening and dinner. Primarily through the consciousness of Mrs. Ramsay, it presents the clash of the male and female sensibilities in the family; Mrs. Ramsay functions as a means of equipoise and reconciliation. Part II: Time Passes, is a moving evocation of loss during the interval between Mrs. Ramsay's death and the family's revisit to the house. Part III moves toward completion of this intricate and subjective portrait through the adding of a last detail to a painting by an artist guest, Lily Briscoe, and through the final completion of a plan, rejected by the father in Part I, for him and the children to sail out to the lighthouse. The novel is impressionistic, subjectively perceptive, and poignant.

“只要认真学习相关的知识，用科学严谨的态度去制作，一个普通人就能够通过自己的双手实现自己的飞行梦想”。在首飞成功后，杨伟民说目前已经准备联系工厂进行批量化生产，他来监制飞机的制作过程。因为已有成功的制作首飞经验，杨伟民说不会再需要两年的时间制造，不久以后深圳上空或许会出现一个自制超轻型飞机机组。

杨伟民年少时就迷上航模制作，为实现少年时的飞天梦想。2007年开始，他着手制作载人飞机。为了确定飞机型号和查阅相关资料，光是前期的准备，就花了半年时间。最后他选择了一款成熟的、保有率高的机型。该型号自制飞机在世界各地有3500多架在飞，保有良好的飞行安全记录。在德国和英国都拥有政府的安全认证，在美国有最多的保有量。

确定型号后，杨伟民联系美国厂商购买图纸和原材料，不到10万元人民币。杨伟民说，飞机的材料都选用正规航空材料，并按图纸及航空要求严格制作。杨伟民把家里的客厅变成工厂，除发动机、螺旋桨、机轮、飞行仪表外，所有飞机部件均亲手制作。

图2：今年3月，杨伟民的飞机首次进行试总装。

美国厂商参与试飞赞“完美”

7月30日下午4时左右，杨伟民驾着属于自制的超轻型飞机“小马”从深圳与惠州交界处一条未开通的马路上顺利起飞。飞机在400米高度的空中飞了25分钟后，又做了一次点地复飞，空中飞行4圈，最后安全降落，圆满完成了首飞。

在现场众多的关注者中，一位美国来客身份尤其特殊，他是Dave Trump先生，JDTMINI-M ax超轻型飞机公司的老板。在起飞前，他和杨伟民一起检查飞机准备情况。在首飞成功后，DaveTrump又亲自驾驶这架飞机起飞。“这是我见过的最漂亮的一架m ini-M ax，制作极其精准，飞行性能非常好，堪称完美”，他说同型号自制飞机在世界各地有3500多架在飞，保有良好的飞行安全记录。在德国和英国都拥有政府的安全认证，而在美国有最多的保有量。但在中国，杨伟民是第一个购买自制该型号并且首飞成功的。

杨伟民这架飞机的设计师(图纸提供者)是美国着名的超轻型飞机设计师W ayne Ison先生。为表彰Wayne Ison对超轻型飞机领域的贡献，也因为他设计了这架安全、便宜、飞行性能良好的飞机，美国试验飞机联盟EAA把他请进飞机设计师名人堂。

图3：今年7月30日18时05分，杨伟民驾驶着飞机安全降落。

国民党发言人李建荣27日下午3时在此间举行记者会，宣读了上午所收到的胡锦涛的贺电。

贺电全文如下：

台北，中国国民党中央委员会马英九先生：

值此先生当选中国国民党主席之际，谨致祝贺。由衷期望贵我两党继续推动两岸关系和平发展，进一步深化政治互信，不断为两岸同胞谋福祉，开创中华民族的伟大复兴。

中国共产党中央委员会总书记 胡锦涛

2009年7月27日

马英九复电胡锦涛：努力共促两岸持续发展繁荣

马英九26日当选中国国民党主席，中共中央总书记胡锦涛27日致电，祝贺马英九当选中国国民党下任主席，马英九同日复电给胡锦涛致谢。

马英九回电全文如下：

北京

中国共产党中央委员会总书记

胡锦涛先生惠鉴：

今日贺电敬悉，谨致谢忱。

四年来，经过贵我两党的共同努力，当前两岸关系已在“九二共识”的基础上，走上和平发展、稳定共荣的大道，既符合两岸人民的期望，也赢得世界各国的肯定。

今后，仍须双方顺应民意，继续在“正视现实、建立互信、搁置争议、共创双赢”的原则下，不断努力，以巩固海峡和平、重建区域稳定、促进两岸持续发展与繁荣。端此奉复，敬颂

时祺

马英九敬启

2009年7月27日

在word2007中修改style不如2003得心应手，索性在微软的网站找了几个文档模板，尝试了用这些模板作为QuickStyles保存,放在路径C:\Documents and Settings\zhangb\Application Data\Microsoft\QuickStyles下，以后写文档就直接用自己保存的style，非常省事了。

具体做法： Change Styles –>Style Set-> Save as Quick Style Set –> Save your dox: XXX-template.dotx

当然，如果超级喜欢某个Style，可以直接Set as Default.

When I work with people in my business productivity practice, the first question I ask them is, "What's stopping you from being more productive?" The answers that keep coming up are pretty much the same from everyone.

In this article, we'll take a look at these beliefs one by one, and see how you can turn them around.

1. There's too much information coming at me too fast

Belief: My e-mail is overwhelming me. I can't keep up with it.

Reality: The volume of e-mail isn't the issue. How you process and organize the volume is the issue. Learning how to better manage your e-mail by using McGhee Productivity Solutions' "Four D's for Decision Making" will transform this belief.

Each year we receive more and more data from a growing array of devices, which can be accessed from an increasing number of locations. If you're not careful, the quantity of data starts to drive you instead of the other way around. Learn 4 ways you can take control of your e-mail Inbox. And when you do, you can reduce the number of messages in your inbox by as much as 80 percent.

2. I have to keep everything

Belief: I have to keep everything. You just never know when you might need it!

Reality: Okay, prepare yourself. On average, the clients we work with throw away 50 percent of their stored information, with no ramifications. They feel lighter, happier, and have more time. So if you're a "keeper," and you know who you are, hold on to your hats! You "keepers" are a proud and experienced breed! There's nothing quite like laying your hands on a file that no one else can find. It justifies all of your filing and keeping efforts. If you're a keeper, you might recognize yourself in one of these statements:

• I got badly burned when I couldn't lay my hands on an important document. Now, I'm afraid to let go of information.

• I want to be able to justify the decisions I make, so I keep everything.

• If my system crashes, I want backup information.

• I felt so good when no one else could find "that document." As a result, I decided to keep everything so I could continue being useful.

At some point you made a decision about keeping all your information. That decision has been driving you ever since, but it may not be appropriate in your current situation.

The truth is, most people use only 15 percent of what they file, and this makes the other 85 percent ineffective. You can read about one way to develop a functional filing system in my Create an Effective Reference System article. By clarifying what is useful and letting go of the rest, you can reduce your filing, make it easier to find what you do keep, and save valuable time and energy that you can direct to more meaningful tasks. Also, learn 7 tips to help you manage your files better.

3. Organization cramps my freedom and creativity

Belief: Being organized blocks my creativity, and there's nothing spontaneous about it.

Reality: Organization actually fosters and supports creativity and spontaneity. You may find your creativity being disrupted by the non-stop flood of reminders spinning around your head, such as:

• Call Kevin for his birthday

• Review the P&L spreadsheet

• Review PowerPoint slide deck

• Decide on a Valentine's Day present

Imagine if you could clear your mind of all these lists and transfer them to Microsoft Office Outlook. You can do this by putting them in the TaskPad. This will create space for new ideas and creative thinking. Being disorganized can also stifle your creativity. Imagine you're an artist and decide to paint the Colorado autumn colors in Aspen. You drive for three and a half hours from Denver to Aspen to find the perfect spot. When you arrive, you realize you've forgotten to pack your paint brushes. That can make being creative really hard! Preparation does support your creativity.

When your calendar is booked and leaves no time to be spontaneous, this can be frustrating. However, if you pre-plan, you can block out large chunks of time with no organized events, giving you more freedom to do something on the spur of the moment.

To get control of all the "stuff" in your life, I recommend you set up an Integrated Management System (IMS). An IMS gives you a methodology for storing reference information, turning action information into tasks, and scheduling tasks on your calendar. After you've set up your IMS, you'll find that it will support your creativity and spontaneity. The best result is being able to close your system, knowing that everything is taken care of so you can relax and let go!

4. There's not enough time in the day!

Belief: I just don't have the time to do all the things I want.

Reality: Time is not the issue. The issue is deciding what you can do given the time you have.

As you know, managing your time with Olympian skill doesn't create more hours in the day. We all have the same 24 hours, so the issue isn't managing time—it's managing what you can do with the time you have. You can't do everything, but you can do anything, as long as it fits into your calendar.

If you keep your to-do lists in multiple locations—in e-mail, on a calendar, on paper, in an Excel spreadsheet, a list in your head, and notepad paper—you might want to consider centralizing this list in the Outlook TaskPad. This will make it easier to centralize and prioritize this list. Then, you need to schedule your tasks on your Outlook Calendar so you will know what you can and can not do. To start, put your to-do items on your Outlook Task list. Learn how to create a Task.

Create a task list to see all the commitments you have.

Then, drag your tasks onto your Outlook Calendar.

If you click on a task and drag it to the Calendar, you can choose to move or copy it to your Calendar as an attachment, with all of the details intact.

View all your tasks on your calendar.

As you drop tasks into the available time on your Calendar you will immediately see if you are overcommitted and if you need to re-prioritize your tasks and, in some cases, reschedule your commitments.

5. It takes too much time to get productive

Belief: I don't have the time to set up a system. I've got too much to do.

Reality: You can save one to two hours a day using an Integrated Management System, so the return on the investment is significant.

Here are some interesting statistics. On average, people we work with spend two to three hours a day working in e-mail and 60 minutes a day finding and filing information. After setting up an Integrated Management System, they spend one to two hours a day working in e-mail and 10 minutes a day finding and filing information. That's a savings of nearly two hours a day, or almost 12 weeks a year! The bottom line is: You can't afford not to create an effective Integrated Management System.

Take a moment and consider the time you spend:

• Finding and filing information;

• Writing a to-do list, and then rewriting it a week later on another list, and then another;

• Opening e-mail, reading the message, closing the e-mail and then coming back to the same e-mail to read it again tomorrow; and

• Going to the store and realizing you don't know the model of the hardware you need to pick up.

These are just a few examples of how we waste time by not having an Integrated Management System to help us remember what, where, and when. Take the time to set up your system. You're worth it, and you can't afford not to.

Top of page

Author Bio: Sally McGhee

A recognized thought leader and innovator in the field of productivity management, Sally McGhee has trained thousands of people in the corporate environment. She has more than 25 years’ experience as a consultant and an executive coach, and is the founder and CEO of McGhee Productivity Solutions. Her book Take Back Your Life!: Using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to Get Organized and Stay Organized is available online.

4 ways to take control of your e-mail Inbox

http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/productivity/email.aspx

1. Set up a simple and effective e-mail reference system

The first step toward an organized Inbox is understanding the difference between reference information and action information.

• Reference information is information that is not required to complete an action; it is information that you want to keep in case you need it later.

• Action information is information you must have to complete an action.

Most people receive a considerable amount of reference information through e-mail. Sometimes as much as one-third of your e-mail is reference information. So it is essential to have a system that makes it easy to transfer messages from your Inbox into your e-mail reference system. An E-mail Reference System is a series of e-mail file folders where you store reference information to ensure you have easy access to it later. Learn more about setting up an E-mail Reference System. Once you take care of filing your reference information, you can use the next three steps to handle e-mail you have to do something with, your action information.

2. Schedule uninterrupted time to process and organize e-mail

How many interruptions do you get every each day? It's nearly impossible to complete anything when you allow constant interruptions from the phone, people stopping by your office, and instant messaging. So it's critical that you set aside uninterrupted time to process and organize your e-mail.

Many e-mail messages require you to make a decision. Good decisions require focus, and focus requires uninterrupted attention. You need to establish a regular time each day to process your e-mail so that you can empty your Inbox. Of course, you can scan your e-mail during the day for urgent messages or requests from your boss.

Book yourself a recurring appointment for an hour a day to process e-mail, and mark it as "busy." During this time don't answer the phone or take interruptions, and work only on processing your Inbox.

At first, keeping these appointments will take discipline, but over time the discipline becomes habit. And once you get to zero e-mail in your Inbox, you'll see the value of this one hour a day and you'll stick to it like glue.

3. Process one item at a time, starting at the top

When you sit down to process your e-mail, the first step is to sort it by the order in which you want to process it. For example, you can filter by date, subject, or who the e-mail is from. In Outlook 2003, click the Arranged By: box at the top of your Inbox and click how you want to arrange your e-mail.

Filter your e-mail by a number of different options.

Tip:  If you use Outlook 2003, enable the preview pane so that you can view your messages without having to open them. To enable the preview pane, on the View menu, click AutoPreview.

Resist the temptation to jump around in your Inbox in no particular order. Begin processing the message at the top of your Inbox and only move to the second one after you've handled the first. This can be hard at first when you might have thousands of messages in your Inbox. But as you reduce the number of messages over a few sessions, eventually you'll get to the point where you can process the 60-100 messages you get every day and get your Inbox down to zero every day.

4. Use the "Four D's for Decision Making" model

The "Four D's for Decision Making" model (4 D's) is a valuable tool for processing e-mail, helping you to quickly decide what action to take with each item and how to remove it from the Inbox.

Decide what to do with each and every message

How many times have you opened, reviewed, and closed the same e-mail message over and over? Some of those messages are getting lots of attention but very little action. It is better to handle each e-mail message only once before taking action—which means you have to make a decision as to what to do with it and where to put it. Under the 4 D's model, you have four choices:

1. Delete it

2. Do it

3. Delegate it

4. Defer it

DELETE IT

Generally you can delete about half of all the e-mail you get. But some of you shudder when you hear "delete." You're hesitant to delete messages for fear you might need them at some point. That's understandable, but ask yourself honestly: What percentage of information that you keep do you actually use?

If you do use a large percentage of what you keep, then what you're doing is working. But many of you are keeping a lot more than you use. Here are some questions to ask yourself to help you decide what to delete:

1. Does the message relate to a meaningful objective you're currently working on? If not, you can probably delete it. Why hang on to information that doesn't relate to your main focus?

2. Does the message contain information you can find elsewhere? If so, delete it.

3. Does the message contain information that you will refer to within the next six months? If not, delete it.

4. Does the message contain information that you're required to keep? If not, delete it.

DO IT (in less than two minutes)

If you can't DELETE IT, then decide, "What specific action do I need to take?" and "Can I DO IT in less than two minutes?" If you can, just DO IT.

There is no point in filing an e-mail or closing an e-mail if you can complete it in less than 2 minutes. Try it out—see how much mail you can process in less than 2 minutes. I think you will be extremely surprised and happy with the results. You could file the message, you could respond to the message, or you could make a phone call. You can probably handle about one third of your e-mail messages in less than two minutes.

DELEGATE IT

If you can't DELETE IT or DO IT in two minutes or less, can you DELEGATE IT?

If you can delegate it, do it right away. You should be able to compose and send the delegating message in about two minutes. Once you delegate the action, delete the original message or move it into your e-mail reference system.

DEFER IT

If you cannot DELETE IT, DO IT in less than two minutes, or DELEGATE IT, then the action required is something that only you can accomplish and that will take more than two minutes. Because this is your dedicated e-mail processing time, you need to DEFER IT and deal with it after you are done processing your e-mail. You’ll probably find that about 10 percent of your e-mail messages have to be deferred.

There are two things you can do to defer a message: turn it into an actionable task or turn it into an appointment. When you're using Outlook 2003, you can DEFER e-mails with actions by turning the e-mail into a task on your Task List. Name the task to clearly state what action is required so that you don't have to reopen the e-mail message. The result is a clearly defined list of actions in your task list that you can prioritize and schedule to complete on your Calendar. Learn how to:

• Turn a message into a task

• Turn a message into a meeting request

Do it daily

Using the 4 D's model on a daily basis makes it easier to handle a large quantity of e-mail. Our experience shows that on average, people can process about 100 e-mail messages an hour. If you receive 40 to 100 messages per day, all you need is one hour of uninterrupted e-mail processing time to get through your Inbox. Our statistics show that of the e-mail you receive:

• 50 percent can be deleted or filed

• 30 percent can be delegated or completed in less than 2 minutes

• 20 percent can be deferred to your Task List or Calendar to complete later

Of course, if you have a backlog of hundreds of messages, it will take time to get to the point where your daily routine keeps you up to date. It's important to get that backlog down, so I would suggest setting chunks of time aside to work through it. Then you can really enjoy processing your messages every day using the 4 D's.