For music I listen to often, I extract APE files (www.monkeysaudio.com), which are lossless and compress decently. At least that way I don't have to fumble with piles of discs. To my knowledge it's not supported in Linux yet, but it will be.
I hate to divulge my l33t organizational secrets, but because overloaded email accounts are such a pain, I'll make an exception.
Most people have this exact same problem with paper buildup at work. The in-box/desk becomes something like the Bermuda Triangle, in that much of what goes in never comes out again. I had the same problem myself, until I started using the TRAF system advocated by Stephanie Winston in her book, The Organized Executive (somewhat outdated, but still very much applicable).
If you have trouble with email accumulating and never getting processed, try the following:
1. If you do not yet separate personal and work email, consider using separate email addresses, or set up your mail client to filter as much as possible.
2. Get to know and love filters. If you have regular communication with certain people, create additional folders and filter the mail to each, respectively.
Any regular communication from a particular person/group should be filtered as much as possible. Newsgroups, work-related messages, personal messages, all to their respective folders. If you can filter it, do it.
3. With a well filtered system, you should be left with a relatively small (I hope) portion of your email going to your inbox regularly. This is where Winston's TRAF system comes in. Her idea is that there are only four and a half things you can do with paper (or email, for that matter): Trash it (SPAM, unnecessary information, etc.), Refer it (something your co-worker/secretary/boss needs to see), take Action because of it (a memo asking you to write a report), File it (information you need to keep on hold), or Read it, the final "half" action. Reading is only considered a half because once you've read it, you have to pass it through the TRAF system again to do something with it.
4. Set up Refer, Action, File, and Read folders. Decide on a regular time -- hopefully every day, if your account is high volume -- to process your email. Allot additional time periods to read the accumulated email in your filtered folders, forward out the messages in your Refer folder, add tasks to your to-do list or calender from those in your Action folder, print or transfer information from your File folder, and read (and then TRAF) the contents of your Read folder.
5. If the timeliness of your replies becomes an issue, consider setting up an auto-reply with an estimated time of reply, and a listed emergency email address (or subject line, for a filtered emergency folder) for messages that need IMMEDIATE response. Just stress in the message the emergency address is, of course, for emergencies only, and those who abuse the system will be blocked from its use in the future. Works like a charm.
It sounds complicated, but I take in just about a thousand messages a day -- about three fourths of which are filtered into specific folders -- and everything runs very smoothly with this system. The most important thing here is that you set a schedule to process your mail and keep to it.
There are a bunch of other great tips for the disorganized in Winston's book, The Organized Executive, so consider checking it out at your local library if you're having trouble.
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For music I listen to often, I extract APE files (www.monkeysaudio.com), which are lossless and compress decently. At least that way I don't have to fumble with piles of discs. To my knowledge it's not supported in Linux yet, but it will be.
Most people have this exact same problem with paper buildup at work. The in-box/desk becomes something like the Bermuda Triangle, in that much of what goes in never comes out again. I had the same problem myself, until I started using the TRAF system advocated by Stephanie Winston in her book, The Organized Executive (somewhat outdated, but still very much applicable).
If you have trouble with email accumulating and never getting processed, try the following:
1. If you do not yet separate personal and work email, consider using separate email addresses, or set up your mail client to filter as much as possible.
2. Get to know and love filters. If you have regular communication with certain people, create additional folders and filter the mail to each, respectively.
Any regular communication from a particular person/group should be filtered as much as possible. Newsgroups, work-related messages, personal messages, all to their respective folders. If you can filter it, do it.
3. With a well filtered system, you should be left with a relatively small (I hope) portion of your email going to your inbox regularly. This is where Winston's TRAF system comes in. Her idea is that there are only four and a half things you can do with paper (or email, for that matter): Trash it (SPAM, unnecessary information, etc.), Refer it (something your co-worker/secretary/boss needs to see), take Action because of it (a memo asking you to write a report), File it (information you need to keep on hold), or Read it, the final "half" action. Reading is only considered a half because once you've read it, you have to pass it through the TRAF system again to do something with it.
4. Set up Refer, Action, File, and Read folders. Decide on a regular time -- hopefully every day, if your account is high volume -- to process your email. Allot additional time periods to read the accumulated email in your filtered folders, forward out the messages in your Refer folder, add tasks to your to-do list or calender from those in your Action folder, print or transfer information from your File folder, and read (and then TRAF) the contents of your Read folder.
5. If the timeliness of your replies becomes an issue, consider setting up an auto-reply with an estimated time of reply, and a listed emergency email address (or subject line, for a filtered emergency folder) for messages that need IMMEDIATE response. Just stress in the message the emergency address is, of course, for emergencies only, and those who abuse the system will be blocked from its use in the future. Works like a charm.
It sounds complicated, but I take in just about a thousand messages a day -- about three fourths of which are filtered into specific folders -- and everything runs very smoothly with this system. The most important thing here is that you set a schedule to process your mail and keep to it. There are a bunch of other great tips for the disorganized in Winston's book, The Organized Executive, so consider checking it out at your local library if you're having trouble.