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How many email folders do you need?
Posted by Angus Kidman at 4:35 PM on July 11, 2008
While Gmail users might favour the sort-nothing-and-search-when-you-need-it approach, there's still a lot to be said for moving mail into folders, especially if it's from a mailing list or other regular source. But how many folders should you have to ensure you're not overwhelmed by unread mail in loads of locations? In a post discussing ways of controlling email overflow, Microsoft blogger Doug offers his suggestion:
Set up a few folders to automatically send system emails to: status reports, system issues. Set up a few folders for key projects, key emails from your managers, personal emails, FYI's. But limit yourself. Say, no more than 12.Personally, I have a lot more folders than that -- more like 40 -- though probably 10 or so of those are archival and could be collapsed without my really caring. What do you think the optimal number of email folders is? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Dear Brother: This is how I tamed my email [Inside Office Online]
Windows only: Rainbow Folders, a free interface-tweaking utility, is a great tool for de-cluttering a desktop, directory, or other work spaces where distinct colours and shapes help your mind sort out what goes where. Rather than offering just four or five colour labels, Rainbow Colours lets you use Photoshop-like hue and saturation values to make distinct shades, and lets you choose between classic, XP, or Vista-style stand-up folders to further distinguish your stuff. The app can also add mouse-over tooltip text to a folder, in case your visual memory needs a quick refresher. Rainbow Folders is a free download for Windows systems only. Note: If the main link below is overwhelmed, you can grab the install package from 
Windows only: There's never been an elegant or efficient way to create new folders in Windows without getting the mouse involved. Alt+F+W+F? Definitely not quick. But lightweight application mdAxel can assign a keyboard shortcut to the act of creating a new folder. The shortcut triggers a folder creation dialog box which includes a pull-down menu of previous names you've used for easy reuse or editing. After mdAxel made making new folders easier from the keyboard, my weekend task of organising a mountain of media into a neat folder structure became much more bearable. MdAxel is a free download for Windows only. 
Windows only: If you're anything like me, you've probably got an itchy trigger finger when your cursor is near the window-closing "X" button (or the Alt+F4 combination if you're more the keyboard type), and spend a good chunk of change heading back to deep-nested folders later on. Free Explorer add-on Folder View adds a toolbar to your Windows Explorer windows that includes a really helpful "History" function, which lets you quickly head back to those folders buried deep in your system, stashed on a network, or are just a pain to type into the address bar again. You can also add commonly-visited locations to Folder View's bookmark-like toolbar, but the History function alone is what really sells this little app. Folder View is a free download for Windows systems only.
Windows only: Dir Utils, a free right-click extension for Windows systems, is a great utility for anyone who regularly finds themselves organising downloads and media files. The utility adds five new options to Windows' right-click menu, including "Unify," which grabs files from a folder's sub-directories and moves them all up to the main folder; "Alphabetize," which puts all files in sub-folders into A-Z folders based on file name; and "Extensionize," which does the same based on file extensions. In other words, Dir Utils saves you the time you would've spent re-organising MP3s, gathering a seasons' worth of episode videos, and keeping a hefty downloads folder organized. Dir Utils is a free download for Windows systems only.
Google Documents has seen a good deal of productive-minded change over the last few days, quietly rolling out new interface features and re-designs. The most noticeable is a new Word-like menu bar, which takes up a little space at the top of the browser. Secondly, coloured folders add a corner-of-eye method for separating documents into work flow states or other systems. Finally, document creators can now re-assign and change document permissions back and forth, giving collaborators read, write and ownership abilities. Zoho users, how is Google's latest set of changes starting to look, put up against its (admittedly) more feature-rich competitor? Let's hear it in the comments.
Windows and Mac OS X: Free data-syncing utility FolderShare has released an updated Windows client with better Windows Vista support and performance, as well as a redesign of the website where you can easily share and grab files from another computer, whether it's Mac or PC. As with the 
