Friday, August 15, 2008

Easy on the Email, Buddy

The following are the true bits and bytes from an email exchange between myself and Merlin Mann.*

Dear Merlin!

You are awesome! Thanks for your awesome twitter feed. And for your awesome videos with you and your wallet. I laugh so hard at those! Do more!

Man, you are just awesome!

Your fan!
—jon
P.S. You are *really* awesome!

A week or so later, I got this email.

Jon:

How did you get this email address? Never mind. Don’t answer that.

Thanks for your kind words, but please do not email me again.

—MM

Well, I simply had to email him back to tell him that I would never, ever abuse his courtesy or valuable time! Duh! What would you have done? I’m just being polite right back!

Dear Merlin!

Hey, no problemo, man!

I will never email you again.

But I do want to drop you another line and let you know how much I appreciate the rad podcast you do. It always makes me laugh! And the 5ives is great for a quick giggle. Oh! And your tumblog thing is really cool! How do you find all that stuff you post there? I start surfing around wikipedia and no matter what, I always seem to end up stuck on the Lanthanides page. Every. Time. What’s up with that?

And seriously, your 43 Folders site has really helped me get ahold of my life. I really get a lot of things done now! Though it is weird that all my jeans have the outline of a stack of 3"x5" cards on the back pocket. Side effect of the GTD lifestyle, baby! And it seems I owe A LOT of my productivity improvements to my switch to graph paper. Who knew that graph paper was the key to productivity?! Am I right? High five!

Anyway! No more email from me! Promise!

Your fan!
—jon

Two minutes later I got this back.

Jon:
I am now blacklisting not only your email address, your mail server and your IP, but also the entire netblock of your ISP.
If you email me again, I will hunt down you and your family, do unspeakable things to your genitalia with a pitchfork and then sell your progeny into slavery and use the profits to keep me supplied in Taco Bell and mixed nuts until I retire.
—MM

OK, in all seriousness, I want to introduce you to Merlin’s 43 Folders site. The other stuff he does (twitter, YLNT podcast, etc.) is fabulous and highly entertaining and well worth your time, but the 43 Folders stuff is downright useful. I’m not a huge GTD (Getting Things Done, originally from David Allen’s book and now pretty much a minor religion for some people) kind of fellow, but I have learned a lot from Merlin’s “life hacks” on 43F.

I come back to this article on writer’s block quite a bit. Not because I’ve suffered through writer’s block (knock on cement countertops), but because there are some great tips about creativity in there. And lately I’ve been very impressed with this series he did on attention and time management for creative people. Excellent stuff.

Something people like me with undiagnosed adult ADHD rather desperately need.

The thing I enjoy about Merlin’s 43F site is that he offers his “life hacks” as small things you can do that can improve your life. Personally, I don’t see it as some huge Franklin Planner monster, telling you to “change your whole life around to fit into our system” extravaganza. I know it’s mildly goofy to say, but it feels more like a friend saying, “Hey, this worked for me, try this.”

Anyway, in my ongoing quest of late to talk about things on the internet I enjoy, use or consume, I give you Merlin Mann, mostly of 43 Folders, but also of about 18,317 other domains.

Though I need to warn you, he’s got a real thing about email. If you are ever standing next to him, it’s best not to mention anything about email or he’ll start blathering on and on about “Inbox Zero,” how email maimed his first puppy and that a rogue Exchange mailserver will probably end up killing us all when the revolution comes. He starts to foam at the mouth a little and it’s kind of disconcerting to watch, truth be told.

And if you a PR person or trying to pitch him something, caveat emptor. Don’t bother.

OK, back to being serious again. I’m currently not a person drowning in email, but I know people who are and Merlin’s Inbox Zero stuff is very clever and useful. If you find yourself dreading opening your Mail app every morning, take a look!

*Not true in the slightest. There was no exchange of email, ever. I’ve never met Merlin. I make up stuff like this so people will laugh and end up liking and possibly tolerating me. Isn’t that clear by now?

1. Merlin changed my life. He helped me manage my inbox that was heaping with dozen of messages. Well, half a dozen. That one email from my mom.

   GOD, I’M UNPOPULAR.

   Posted by Annie  on  08/15/08  at  04:51 AM

2. Yay, 43 Folders! I’d completely forgotten about that site.  I’m not a candidate for Adult ADHD, but I am a complete scatter brain and 43 folders helped out a bit with that.

   Btw, I got snarked at at Costco earlier today by a woman that almost ran me over with her cart.  I mean, how dare I be standing in line at the checkout line with everyone else!

   Posted by Michael  on  08/15/08  at  01:08 PM

3. Oh my God, when I was in Austin for SXSW I think I drooled a little every time I saw him. If you ever get a chance google is “Flocked Up” presentation. Brilliant man right there.

   Posted by Heather B.  on  08/15/08  at  01:31 PM

4. This is the FlockedUp presentation Merlin did at SXSW ‘08 that Heather B. referenced.

   “uncomfortably sticky”

   Posted by jon  on  08/15/08  at  01:43 PM

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Holy Crap! Look at all this STUFF down here. It's awesome!

 

Really, I'm glad you made it down here. Almost no one ever comes down here. I'm like in a freaking dungeon down here. I get lonely. But not you. YOU made it all the way to the end of the page. For this I think I've a little crush on you. I don't know, is "love" to strong a word to use in this situation? Well, if it's not "love," then it's very strong "like." I'm totally in like with you for coming down here. You are awesome. Please love me back! I know, I know, I shouldn't be all needy, it's not attractive at all, but you don't know how it is to be stuck down here. Who scrolls all the way to the end of a page anymore these days? Anyway, thanks for shedding some light down here in the depths. I appreciate it. Shoot me an email and I'll send you a dollar, OK?

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