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Putting Emails In Folders Is a Waste of Time, Says IBM Study

Posted by timothy on from the perhaps-the-sorting-process-is-useful-though dept.

An anonymous reader writes "There are two types of office workers in the world — those who file their emails in folders, and those who use search. Well, it looks like the searchers are smarter. A 354-user study by IBM research found that users who just searched their inbox found emails slightly faster than users who had filed them by folder. Add the time spent filing and the searchers easily come out on top. Apparently the filers are using their inbox as a to-do list rather than wanting to categorize information to find it more easily."

5 of 434 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Except that... by Joce640k · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yep. Scrollbars become unusable when one scrollbar pixel equals several pages of what's being scrolled.

    Plus...ummm, doesn't "search" work on folders too? Ooops!

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  2. no way - wrong search terms leave things behind by rubycodez · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Project folders are superior, especially as time passes one can't remember proper keyword to bring up all relevant emails. Yes, I've used e-mail systems that were folderless and only search was possible, not quite as useful.

  3. IBM Uses Lotus Notes for Email by Greyfox · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They're not what I'd call "Experts."

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    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  4. "Reference" folder by Bodero · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I once read a Best Practices manual for Microsoft Outlook by the Outlook team that changed how I deal with email. The premise is this:
    • Have only two folders: Inbox, and Reference.
    • When an email comes in and it does not need to be acted on, read it, then move it to Reference.
    • If an email needs to be acted upon, leave it in your inbox until the task is complete. This may be hours, days, weeks or months. But everything in your inbox is something that is waiting on someone.

    I frequently had a habit of reading emails on my smartphone and forgetting about them. Now, I can either move them to Reference on my phone, or do it when I get back to my desk. But nothing slips through the cracks this way, which was a huge problem when I first got a smartphone.

  5. Re:Except that... by msauve · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apparently, IBM hasn't discovered the concept of filter, which can organize emails automatically. Hopefully, when they do, there won't be a new patent forthcoming.

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    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law