The Clutter Diet Blog

Lorie's Favorite Things List 2011

As you may know, I usually pick out my "favorite things" list each year for fun holiday gift ideas, mostly organizing-related. Here is my list from last year, and here is my list for 2009.

This year's list I published on my Good Housekeeping blog, so if you want to see my hand-picked gift ideas for this year-- all new stuff in the organizing world--  click here to see them all on the Good Housekeeping Home Style Blog!

Happy holidays, and happy organizing!

 Follow me on Twitter for my Daily #ClutterTweetTip, "Like" us on Facebook, and see our weekly #ClutterVideoTip on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/clutterdiet

Grocery Shopping Lists: Are You Old-School or High-Tech?

Along with the classic "What's for dinner?" question, we often hear ourselves saying its corollary, "What do we need at the store?" Check the Good Housekeeping Home Style blog for some outstanding ways to keep your grocery list, both old and new. Then let us know in the comments which you prefer.

Follow me on Twitter for my Daily #ClutterTweetTip, "Like" us on Facebook, and see our weekly #ClutterVideoTip on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/clutterdiet

If you are not reading this on www.clutterdietblog.com, in your own RSS reader, or via an Amazon Kindle subscription, this content most likely is being used without the author's permission and is violating copyright law. Please do not support these scraper sites!

10 Books You Can Get Rid of Because of the Internet

I guess I have been on a roll lately with thinking about reading material and bookshelves. First my post on opting out of the Yellow Pages, then the National Geographic "Golden Shelves of Glory" post...

Today I was thinking about how many traditional reference books we no longer use because of the web. I am not saying you SHOULD get rid of these if you like them, but I am merely asking some questions to get you thinking.

• How much shelf space are these thick books taking up?
• How much use are they getting?
• Are they even up-to-date with the information they offer?
• Could you use the voluminous shelf space they currently occupy for something more relevant that you need handy?

Here's my list of books to consider:

1. Atlases: An atlas is outdated as soon as it's printed, given normal growth, political changes, and boundary adjustments that occur regularly throughout the world. Google Earth is great for these needs, as well as Google Maps and Mapquest. Not perfect either, but definitely where I would go first to look.
2. Medical references: Would you open this book first, or go to WebMD or MayoClinic.com?
3. Movie guides: Every year new versions of books like Leonard Maltin's are updated and printed. Do you go there first, or IMDB?
4. Almanacs: The Farmer's Almanac used to be the go-to resource for moon phases, long term weather forecasting, and other useful information. Now they have www.almanac.com, where things are more updated and searchable. 
5. Quotation references: There are lots of places online to search for good quotes, such as Freeality.com and others. Books will not have up-to-date quotes from more modern sources.
6. Encyclopedias: Talk about shelf space! I am sure we can have a lively debate about Wikipedia's validity, and that is a good debate to have, but if I am going to look up something I will always go somewhere online and search until I find the most credible source.
7. Cookbooks: I love cookbooks as many people do, but nowadays I am finding I go online first when I need a recipe. I keep my own recipe binder for the ones I use and love (see our Clutter Video Tip here about creating a recipe binder). I would encourage you to think twice before buying new cookbooks, and if you have some on your shelf that you've owned for years and only use one or two recipes out of them... you can photocopy the recipes you like, put them in your binder, and donate the book.
8. Dictionaries: I am a writer and I am sitting at a computer doing that, so it makes sense for me to jump over to The Free Dictionary for look-ups. We do have a small paperback dictionary here for the kids if they need one for manual-style homework, but the days of owning a gigantic copy of Webster's on our shelves are over.
9. Thesauri: Yes, the plural of thesaurus is thesauri. I know this because I looked it up on The Free Dictionary.  ;)  I use The Free Dictionary for thesaurus lookups too, because when you search for a word there, it gives you the dictionary definition and then you scroll down and see the thesaurus entries for that word on the same page. I also have enjoyed using The Visual Thesaurus, which can take you on a fun journey of springy, web-like word connections. You can try it but then it is a paid service for about $20 per year. There are many other free thesaurus options out there.
10. Household maintenance and repair references: Now you can go online and watch videos of someone doing repairs and remodeling projects, which is so much easier to follow than crazy line diagrams and vague instructions. Hometime.com is a good place for this, as well as eHow.com. 

Again, I am a book lover, so I am not suggesting you get rid of books you use and love. But I am going to lead the charge by donating several books, including a thick 1995 copy of A Writer's Companion, along with an old thesaurus, a paperback quotations book, a medical encyclopedia, and a couple of books on editing and punctuation--total linear shelf-inches freed up, FOURTEEN!

When you donate to Goodwill®, you can use our Donation Impact Calculator to learn how your books helped someone in your community! For example, donating 10 books is equivalent to:

• 17 minutes of resume preparation,
• 16 minutes of job search class,
• 12 minutes of career counseling,
• 15 minutes of financial planning class, or
• 19 minutes of on-the-job training!

What will you "go digital" on today from your bookshelf? Argue with me, or tell me how many shelf-inches of books you are donating in the comments!  :)

Follow me on Twitter for my Daily #ClutterTweetTip, "Like" us on Facebook, and see our weekly #ClutterVideoTip on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/clutterdiet

If you are not reading this on www.clutterdietblog.com, in your own RSS reader, or via an Amazon Kindle subscription, this content most likely is being used without the author's permission and is violating copyright law. Please do not support these scraper sites!

Yes, You CAN Check Your Email in the Morning!

I'm being a heretic again. It's quite popular now in our industry of organizing and productivity to give the firm advice not to check email first thing in the morning. I really have to disagree with that, and I'm sorry because some of the people who say this the most are friends of mine...

But I think the distinction is in the approach. There is a difference between "checking" email and "processing" email. To me, checking means seeing what has come through and noting anything that might be an urgent matter that needs attention. Processing means "doing" your email-- replying, getting sucked in.

I can think of numerous times that it's been a very good thing that I do check my email in the morning:

• Someone has cancelled on a meeting or client appointment for that day
• Someone needs to reschedule a time or postpone something a few minutes
• My website is down and I get an automated notification email about that
• When I was managing my team of organizers out in the field, a client has cancelled his/her appointment, meaning if we didn't know, someone on my team would be out driving someplace for no reason
• A media person wants to talk to me and she is on deadline (yes, this does happen, which is cool)
• Someone is waiting on a quick question to be answered from me to continue their own work that morning

And there are more examples... I think it's entirely possible to quickly check for these types of urgencies and then go on with your project-oriented work for the morning with peace of mind.

One way to manage not getting "sucked in" to processing it is to check your email on your smartphone instead of on your computer. You can easily see what's come through, but because it's harder to reply by typing with the little micromillimeter of skin surface on your finger on your phone screen, you are more likely to keep it brief and move on.

Absolutely, when this advice is given about not checking, it has to do with being proactive vs. reactive in your work habits, and I agree with being proactive as much as possible. Realities of the world and the workplace do mean that we do have urgencies to contend with, depending upon the type of job we have and the level of responsibility we carry. The key is not letting those urgencies control us entirely.

We can also say that phone calls should be used for urgent matters and not email. That is also wise, but many people do use email for everything, particularly when they send messages late at night about just such urgencies at hours when phoning would be inappropriate. We can dig in our heels and be determined that everyone "should" behave differently, but we can't control all of that. We can control our own behavior and exercise that control toward resisting being reactive whenever possible.

What say you? I am bracing myself for the discussion. :)  Share your thoughts in the comments!

Follow me on Twitter for my Daily #ClutterTweetTip, "Like" us on Facebook, and see our weekly #ClutterVideoTip on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/clutterdiet

If you are not reading this on www.clutterdietblog.com, in your own RSS reader, or via an Amazon Kindle subscription, this content most likely is being used without the author's permission and is violating copyright law. Please do not support these scraper sites!

7 Sticky Tips for Using Velcro in Organizing Projects

Here's another set of tips inspired by our recent Good Housekeeping clutter makeover contest winner's projects. (See before & afters and get an overview of the contest winner's bounty here...garage and home office) We use Velcro® quite a bit in our work as organizers, you'd be surprised! Here's how:

• Just like we did for our winner Dana, you can use Velcro to stick routers and cable modems and the like to the sides of furniture instead of being in the way. This photo here is of Dana's router in her office-- she had to hold it up on a little tray table in this spot before and it kept her from putting the shredder there, where she really needed it. (Click photo for a larger version)
• Use Velcro for remote controls in a bedroom or recreation room, especially lesser-used remotes.
• Use Velcro for rubber stamps next to the printer in a home office or workplace. (We've stuck the "FAXED" rubber stamp right onto the fax machine many times)
• Keep in mind that Velcro has a prickly side and a fuzzy side. You might not want the prickly side on your remote control where you'll be holding it! The fuzzy side is soft and pleasant to hold and doesn't grab onto other fabrics, so be mindful of this when placing your Velcro strips.
• Don't cover up any model numbers or serial numbers that might need to be referenced later. Also make sure to place electronic items somewhere with proper ventilation and space around them to dissipate heat.
• Place one side of the Velcro on the object with the adhesive backing peeled off, then Velcro the other side to that piece before peeling off its adhesive backing and pressing into place. You want to make sure the two parts will exactly line up/match up after it's all done. (I guess "Velcro" has become a verb, right?)
• Use "Industrial Strength" Velcro for the best hold, and keep your unused Velcro strips out of heat or extreme temperatures so the adhesive won't fail later. In our professional organizer tool kits we keep an assortment of strips and dots.

There are probably infinite uses for Velcro around your home and office! My friend Monica uses hers to hold chip clips on the back of cabinet doors. (I guess you could call that her "Chip Clip Tip." LOL) What are your favorite Velcro tips?  Share in the comments!

Follow me on Twitter for my Daily #ClutterTweetTip: www.twitter.com/clutterdiet

Mo-o-o-om! What's my Password?

It's about that time of the summer... the novelty of being out of school has worn off, the kids might have returned from summer camp, and they are... (GASP)... BORED! If they are on the computer and logging in to their favorite (safe) websites to pass the time, they might be starting to grapple with the same problem that many adults have:  keeping track of all of those passwords. And you are probably helping them with this when you may not even have it figured out yourself!

My colleagues over at GetButtonedUp have shared with me this great printable kids' password tracker form. It's colorful and fun and I love the little bulldog face on there reminding us about security!  :)

You can download the password tracker form here at no cost (PDF).

GetButtonedUp has some great organizing products and content-- we carry a couple of their products in our online store, the best-selling one being the Life.doc binder. It's a great "family binder" as we recommend setting up in our membership program, but this one is already done for you. You just have to fill in your own information and, presto! It even comes with the forms on CD-ROM so you can type in the information instead of writing everything by hand.

If you want some tips on storing your own passwords, you can read more about that here in my previous post, "Organizing Your Passwords--Be Safe!" You can also use this product in our online store if you want to have a paper method instead of electronic-- the Internet Password Organizer®. It's a nondescript black notebook that sits unnoticed on a shelf, silently storing your important information from prying eyes. This is a great gift-- many of our customers buy multiple copies to share with family members. You can also use a simple A-Z index card file with a card for each account, if you like. 

How's your summer going? If YOU are bored, now you can organize your kids' passwords and your own too! Share your favorite password tips in the comments!

Follow me on Twitter for my Daily #ClutterTweetTip: www.twitter.com/clutterdiet

7 Useful Folder Categories You Might Not Be Using

Filing is typically a fairly personal thing, varying because of how people's brains work differently and the fact that people have unique experiences and memories and triggers. There are some standard file folder label names that almost everybody has in their file drawers, like "Bank Statements" or "Medical Insurance," but here are a few practical ones that you might not have considered:

• Travel: Places to Go. Here's a file to hold all of those brochures you've picked up and articles you've clipped about dream vacation spots. Grab this when you are planning some time off, and when you go through it, make sure you weed out what's no longer relevant.
• Travel: Places We've Been. Sometimes it's useful to keep some brochures and maps and other information from vacation places that you might see yourself returning to someday. If you have a lot of these, sometimes people break them down into individual folders for different places, but that is not typically needed.
• Travel: Local Things to Do. Here in Austin we get Austin Monthly magazine, and they always have great restaurant reviews and articles with names like "101 Great Things to Do in the Summer." This file is a great place to keep ideas like this for when you have a long weekend or have visitors coming to town. You can also make a "Tourist Binder" as I have outlined on this previous post. You can also call it something else if you like... none of this is set in stone!
• Career Planning. This folder provides a home for aptitude testing information, various historical versions of your resume, performance reviews, and educational transcripts.
• Credit Reports. Through the weekly "menu" plans of projects we provide in our online program, we remind our members to run these reports three times a year. Smart monitoring of your credit report keeps the chance of identity theft lower by helping you catch mistakes and fix them before they are too far gone. The only credit reporting website that is official and authorized, by the way, is www.annualcreditreport.com. Be very careful about visiting others who may be only trying to upsell you on further monitoring services (or worse!). 
• Humor. Also known as the "Funny File." Where else do you have a home for those little torn out comic strips and article clippings after they have worn out their welcome on your bulletin board? If you still think they're funny and want to keep them, here's a place.
• Trophies. Call it Keepsakes if you like, but the difference here is that these are things that represent accomplishments you are especially proud of. A photocopy of the first check you received in your business... a particularly meaningful thank you note from a customer or teacher... a clipping of yourself from the newspaper... These are things that make you feel great when you look at them. I also keep things like this posted off to the side of my vision board (my big corkboard wall I put in my closet-- read about that here). And of course, if you have a bunch of these, you can make a scrapbook with them instead.

It's worth noting that all of these folder names I also have as ELECTRONIC folders too, or I use variations of them as tags in Evernote to hold little bits of information. Some people may even have these only as electronic folders and not have any paper!

What are your favorite, clever files you've created that help you? Share in the comments!

And, hey, get ready for a BIG announcement on Monday, everybody!  I can't wait....see you then!

Follow me on Twitter for my Daily #ClutterTweetTip: www.twitter.com/clutterdiet

Shred or Be Sorry: A Cautionary Tale

My sons are working this summer for our city's public works department, and they were helping with an "illegal dumping" incident this week that reminded me of how people need to be careful with their personal information!

Apparently a tanning salon has gone out of business, and they dumped a huge bunch of papers and trash next to our city dumpster. As my son was cleaning up, he realized that the papers had customer information all over them, including contact information, social security numbers and even some credit card numbers! And my son and his team just had to take it to the dump "as is." It was not their job or responsibility to make sure that information was destroyed properly-- it was the tanning salon's job and they failed utterly.

I was upset for all of the people whose information was potentially compromised and angry at the irresponsibility of this business owner. It's a great opportunity to remind all of you who read the blog to be more mindful of identity theft as you organize your lives. Here are a few strategies to follow:

• As you open accounts, don't willingly provide companies with any more information than is necessary to process your transactions. It's rare that you actually must give your Social Security number to anyone, and a tanning salon certainly is an example of a business who does not need that information to provide you service. It's okay to ask questions about providing extraneous data and get the manager involved if necessary. You can be nice about it, and know that you will not be the first person who has asked.
• When in doubt, shred-- that is a great rule of thumb when you've already decided to throw your papers in the trash. In my example above, the business is the one who should have been shredding, but as you can see, whatever is thrown in the trash may be read by somebody else. Shred anything you throw away at home that might compromise your identity, your privacy, your finances, or your reputation.  :) 
• Buy a shredder, and don't scrimp on quality. To me, a shredder is as necessary a home appliance as a toaster or refrigerator. Buy the best cross-cut (confetti) model you can afford and know that a cheap one will aggravate you to no end and will break quickly. Since people do ask me, I like the Fellowes brand, and the one I have has never jammed (it's an Intellishred PS-79Ci). The cost of this shredder is less than the combined cost of the two cheaper ones I burned up and cursed over before getting this one. Note that two pieces of paper folded into thirds and inserted into an envelope add up to 8 thicknesses of paper, so if you want to be able to shred things without opening the envelopes, you'll need at least an 8-page capacity shredder. I prefer much higher.
• Don't forget computer data too! Most new, high-quality shredders have features that allow you to grind up CDs and DVDs. Old floppies can be easily taken apart and destroyed too. eHow has a good article on this subject. Hard drives can be trickier, but you can try Eraser and Blancco. (Use any of these methods at your own risk and get advice from an IT pro beyond me if you have questions.)
• If you have a large batch to shred (like this lazy business owner did), hire a shredding truck to come on-site to do it all at once. It is not very expensive, especially considering how long it would take you to sit there and shred it yourself with a puny overheated machine. Read my previous post with a step-by-step account of how my client lost 783 pounds in one day.  :)
• Protect your passwords and other account information by organizing it well. For electronic storage of information, I love SplashID, which is a product I have followed along with since I had a Palm Treo way back when. Now I have their very impressive Android version, and it's compatible with Blackberry and iPhone and almost everything else too.  I have it synchronizing between my smartphone and my desktop. For a more traditional password organizing system, you can use a plain old A-Z index card file and create a card for each account. You can also use the Internet Password Organizer® book we sell in our online store, which is a nondescript black, spiral-bound book that neatly alphabetizes and organizes your information. (This is a great gift, by the way!)

Be careful out there! And wear sunscreen too!  :)

Follow me on Twitter for my Daily #ClutterTweetTip: www.twitter.com/clutterdiet

How My Kindle Reduces Clutter, Saves Time & Keeps Me Slim

I am a Kindle fanatic, let's just get that out there. I am also an avid reader from way back...I taught myself how to juggle and do calligraphy from reading books when I was a kid. I LOVE BOOKS. So like many fellow bookworms, I did not expect to love the Kindle because it didn't have that "book feel" that you'd want to "curl up with." Well, never mind about that! It just doesn't matter. Once you are used to it, you might actually prefer it like I do!

Here are nine ways I use my Kindle to reduce clutter in my life, be more efficient, and even keep off the pounds...

1. Obvious one out of the way first... buying books on the Kindle means I do not have physical books taking up space on a shelf or table. I have at this point saved well over 3 feet of shelf space buying books this way. I love books, but they are bulky and are hard to discard once you have collected them!
2. The "staying slim" part... I use my early morning treadmill time as my main reading time, and the Kindle is easy and light enough to hold with one hand and turn pages with the one thumb. I can enlarge the font size so that even though I am moving quickly, I can easily read what is in front of me. And because it's moving with me, it's not like having a magazine propped up on the console that I am bobbing up and down in front of and fussing with pages.
3. I read the news during this treadmill time, so I quickly control how I get my news and what I want to skip over, etc. I used to watch TV news on the treadmill and was at the mercy of commercials and the timing of what news they wanted to cover at any given moment. You can subscribe to various newspapers and news blogs and they are delivered fresh when you turn on your device. (Bonus: No newspaper clutter!)
4. I read my favorite blogs on the Kindle. (Pssst: This blog has been the #1 Home & Garden blog on the Kindle since Sept. 2008! And today, it's even #12 OVERALL! Thank you so much!) It costs $0.99 - 1.99 per month per subscription, depending upon which blogs you want to subscribe to... but if time is scarce, it's wonderful to have that content delivered to what I think of as my "centralized reading device." I don't really want to sit in front of my computer reading everything.
5. I read long documents on the Kindle too. You can e-mail documents as attachments to your Kindle's special e-mail address (look in "Manage Your Kindle" on Amazon's site to find it), and they will show up your Kindle! PDFs, Word documents, and other formats translate really well. I especially love reading eBooks this way-- there are lots of downloadable PDFs that you'd otherwise need to print out to read comfortably. There is a small charge for this (I believe it's 15 cents per document to send them), but that is very worth it to me (probably save that much in paper and printer ink alone). Full instructions for this process are in section 8.3 of the Kindle user guide.
6. I read web articles this way also. Constantly throughout my workday I get wind of articles that would be really fun to read but would interrupt my workday to stop and read them. There is a fantastic free service called "Instapaper," at www.instapaper.com, where you create an account, put in your special Kindle e-mail address and set it up, and get a button for your toolbar that says "Read Later." When you find an article on the web, press the "Read Later" button, and the article gets sent to your Kindle for reading when you're ready. This is my new favorite thing!! I am so excited about this service. (This also is subject to the 15 cent Amazon charge per emailed item)
7. I travel with the Kindle and it reduces clutter in my carry-on bag. I am such a bookworm I used to travel with multiple heavy books and magazines to read on the plane or train, and I now have lightened my load considerably! (Bonus: I always have a dictionary with me too.)
8. I save time buying books wirelessly, because I don't have to drive over to the bookstore to purchase something I want to read. And if I am traveling, I don't have to spend time hunting down a bookstore in an unfamiliar city. The Kindle works on the cellular network, so you can download a book from almost anywhere.
9. I get text clippings of my notes and highlights right on my computer. While I am reading, I use the Kindle's little "mouse" control to make highlights on passages and write notes to myself about what I think on the small keyboard. I can plug in my Kindle with the USB cable and grab all of the text from these notes and passages from the "My Clippings" file. Since they are already in text format and "paste-able," I can use this information much more quickly and easily. Instructions for this are in section 8.2 of the Kindle user guide.

I did not expect to like the Kindle as much as I do! Hopefully you see why now. I think of it as an "iPod for books." I recently treated myself to a really cool "Gelaskin" applique for mine, for fun but also to protect the surface when I read it at the nail salon and can tend to get nail salon gunk on it. :)

What do you think about the Kindle? What are your favorite tips for using it to save time and reduce clutter in your life?  Share in the comments! (Kindle photo above from Amazon.com)

Follow me on Twitter for my Daily #ClutterTweetTip: www.twitter.com/clutterdiet

15 Tips for Managing Inbox Obesity

Wednesday night we had our monthly members-only Q&A call, and there was a lot of talk about e-mail. While the Clutter Diet® program itself is really not for the workplace, I have done productivity work with clients for years in companies large and small, and it's something we all deal with to varying degrees. I approach e-mail problems the same way I approach almost everything I organize-- looking at Prevention, Reduction, and Maintenance...just like weight loss.

Prevention:

• Unsubscribe to as much as you can, and better yet, don't subscribe in the first place. (Unless it's my newsletter--ha!) Make sure the content is really adding value to your life, is consistent with your goals and objectives, and is not just a constant sales pitch.
• Be careful when you buy something online-- make sure the checkbox for receiving other communications from the vendor, and especially from "their partners," is not checked off by default. Check privacy policies to make sure you understand how your information is going to be used.
• Make sure your IT person has helped you set up the best spam filtering you can get for your particular situation. Spam is a terrible time-waster!
• Have conversations with significant email senders in your life about your desire to reduce your e-mail.
• • Individuals: You can agree for someone like an assistant to send you a report in digest form of several issues and events that have occurred in one day, vs. sending you an individual e-mail about each item. And if you are on someone's "joke list," ask politely to be removed as you are trying to prevent inbox overload. Most people will understand.
  • Teams/Departments: Have deliberate, facilitated conversations about what could be done about reducing e-mail in your company culture. Some companies are having "No E-mail Fridays" to encourage people to pick up the phone and interact more, and to have more focused, productive time. Talk to your team about who really needs to copy whom and find out if there are obvious things that can be changed-- the only way to know is to talk about it directly.

Reduction:

• Cut that giant inbox down to size. Someone on our Q&A call had over 3000 messages in her inbox, and that is VERY common. To whittle it down to a manageable size, pick a reasonable date in the recent past by which you are 99% certain anything before that date has been handled or followed up with further emails. For example, if it's February, you might pick January 1st, or December 1st... and any messages prior to that date get archived into a folder. You still have them, they are searchable, and everything is going to be okay! But they will be out of your inbox and you can get closer to that fresh start.
• Use rules and filters to start weeding out and organizing what is left. In Outlook, it's under Tools>> Rules & Alerts (older versions say "Rules Wizard"). In other situations it may be called "filters." You can set up rules to take things like routine newsletters and set them up to automatically go to a folder called "Read/Review," taking them out of your daily processing. You'll be very surprised at all of the things rules and filters can do! 
• Use our Action-Reference-Trash (A-R-T) technique to help you quickly plow through the remainder of the inbox. 
• • ACTION means you need to do something with that message-- respond, research, delegate, etc. You can leave these in your inbox, or you can use Outlook tasks and calendar functions to drag the messages and create tasks and appointments from them.
  • REFERENCE means no action is required, but you need to keep it on file for later-- so get it out of the inbox. Create a system of folders that works for you to go back and find things quickly. It could be one folder called "Reference," or you could have folders for various parts of your job and life. Don't make so many folders that the decision-making slows you down! Keep it simple. Remember, it's all searchable and sortable.
  • TRASH means hitting the DELETE key... but before hitting delete, always ask yourself if you can unsubscribe to that particular type of message first and do that too.

Maintenance:

• Process your email regularly with the A-R-T decision-making technique, and pick a target number of emails in your inbox that works for you to feel "in control." For some people, that is "INBOX ZERO." For others, 10, 20, or 50 messages in the inbox feels sane and manageable. Try to hit that target number at least once a week, if not daily.
• As you maintain, always keep Prevention in mind. Unsubscribe as you can and keep those principles in practice.
• There are two main problems with maintaining e-mail-- 1) the ongoing volume and 2) the reactive, addictive, unproductive mode many people can fall into with it. You want to manage email, not have it manage you. As you maintain your inbox,  use these practices to help you stay proactive:
• • Turn off the notifications that pop up and make sounds when a new email is delivered to your inbox. These are interruptions and distractions that you have complete control over.
  • Check and process your emails at certain designated points of the day, not continuously. If you are trying to get productive work done, email will be a constant interruption if you let it.
  • If you must check at an "off-time," look at your Blackberry/iPhone instead of getting into Outlook or Gmail. You can see and respond if anything urgent has arrived, and otherwise you will be less tempted to start processing and digging in because you will have to peck responses out on a tiny keyboard.

There is SO much more to say about email! What are your favorite tips and pet peeves? Share in the comments!

Follow me on Twitter for my Daily #ClutterTweetTip: www.twitter.com/clutterdiet