Comments on: Why Complex is Easy, Simple is Hard

By: Dryer Lint | Reinventing Me

Dryer Lint | Reinventing Me — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 05:41:02 +0000

[...] what a packrat I am. I admit, I try. I do my best to cut down on the clutter, keep an eye out for articles that help me manage my mess, but I think it’s something of a lost cause. I accumulate more and more digital dryer [...]

By: Heather

Heather — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:56:29 +0000

To keep my numerous email boxes simple, I use EmailCenterPro. Unfortunately with the various enterprises I am a part of, 4 inboxes does not work. But with ECP, I can have them all in one place and my assistants can have access to them as well and my staff can communicate internally on various emails using their 'note' feature. I've tried a number of different ways to manage email and this is by far the most time efficient way I have found so far.

By: Craig Jarrow

Craig Jarrow — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 05:49:57 +0000

Thanks Yolanda…I am a big believer that the simplest answer is usually the most effective.

By: Craig Jarrow

Craig Jarrow — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 05:48:35 +0000

Weedwhacking is a good analogy to maintaining that inbox.

By: Craig Jarrow

Craig Jarrow — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 05:47:50 +0000

Mitch, LOL…can relate to the forgotten login details. That is why I sometimes block unwanted newsletters instead of wasting the time to get back into the website.

Definitely agree with using a password manager to keep track of all those accounts. I use 1Password.

By: Mitchell Allen

Mitchell Allen — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 03:42:53 +0000

I agree with all of your suggestions, except the last one.
Security concerns aside, accounts that you haven't visited in six months can cause additional complexity if you decide to close them.

First, you have to gather a list of all such accounts. Chances are good that you won't remember them all. Once you've compiled the (incomplete) list, you have to go through the following mental exercise:

*Why did I join this site?
*Is it really something I need?
*Where are my login details?
*Why doesn't the website clearly show me how to close my account?
*Arrgh! Why did I let Craig talk me into this!!!

Seriously, though, after an extended period of inactivity, some sites and services will kindly ask you to login or allow them to reclaim their space.

Finally, just because you haven't use the account, there is no reason to close it willy-nilly. I've joined services for which I wasn't prepared. A year later, I reactivated them. Twitter was one, Feedly, another.

One tip for compulsive joiners: get RoboForm to manage your passwords. Whether you decide to leave six months later or reactivate an account, it will save a ton of grief from having misplaced your login credentials.

Cheers,

Mitch

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:04:39 +0000

Letting our lives become more complex is the lazy way out. It takes time and energy to weedwhack the extraneous things.

I am guilty of letting my life get more complex everyday. I tend to accumulate emails quite rapidly until the inbox is rampant with an assortment of emails. Sounds like it's weedwhacking time again

By: yolandafacio

yolandafacio — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:35:41 +0000

Funny how that works! In the end simple is always better, not just for your brain but also for getting more done!