One of the other neat features that the new iPhone 5 and iOS 6 have brought to the table is the VIP Mailbox for better email management.
This might be one of my more favorite additions and it’s already been added to my system and workflow. What it does it simply allows you to create notifications for certain people who you consider to hold VIP status in your life.
That was easy – I instantly put my family members and my wife in particular to the list so that I’d be notified when they email me. This works really well with my workflow because everyone knows that email is my primary means of communication, way ahead of phone calls and SMS.
And, they don’t abuse email like many people – so when they email me 9 out of 10 times it’s particularly important.
But this got me to thinking in much broader terms about how I partition, silo, and organize relationships for maximum effectiveness. Let’s admit that most of us have a system even if we don’t express it explicitly. We put people in categories so that we can better manage those relationships, right?
I have setup particular rules in my many devices and applications to help handle the communication that I have with these circles or categories. One of the most curious filtering and management systems that I have is for certain people that have been toxic and either have the messages instantly removed or forwarded to someone else.
I have some incredible friends who are willing to sort through some of my inbound messages and communication to help me be more productive and efficient during my day. I thank God for these people.
Categorizing people isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it’s more of a management system than anything else – yet I know the temptation and challenge is to not judge or stereotype or classify certain categories as “less than.”
The simple fact is that there are people in your life that will always maintain a VIP status with you and the vast majority that will not. Creating systems help you serve both groups better.
Do you have a system? What is it and how is it working?
I don’t really have a system per-se. I think it’s more of an unconscious thing for me.
This is interesting, I was recently searching apps looking for a system to manage and segment communications with different groupings of people. I’ll now check this out on IOS 6. Thanks man!
I ‘do’ all my e-mails all in one swoop. Usually only check it 1-2 times a day. Sometimes more as time allows thru the day. I only give myself about 30 minutes to an hour on my e-mail. I tend to get thru all I need to in that amount of time. Filtering out the VIP’s and the ‘normal folk’ hah