2nd ZABB Principle: Manage It Anywhere

Now that you have a strategy, you should be ready to implement it so you can manage your email remotely on your BlackBerry or at your desktop. Remember, the whole point is to set yourself up to be able to reduce the amount of time you spend managing your email regardless of whether you're sitting at your desktop.

Disclaimer: Filing messages remotely requires that you have a BlackBerry Enterprise Server. My example is using BES on Exchange. The implementation may be slightly different for Domino or Groupwise.

In an Exchange/BES environment you can set up your system folders (from your desktop) to reflect your processing strategy. Here's how:

1. Create your folders on your server account (as sub folders of your Inbox). My folders are 'Archive', 'Receipts', 'Respond', 'sent' and 'Travel'.
2. Set your Auto Archive Settings to automatically move items in these folders every day into an Archive folder (which you set as a personal folder). Microsoft actually has a training module covering it here
   

These folders will magically appear on your BlackBerry (see image) when you choose to file a message (choose 'File' from the drop-down menu when you have a message open).
Congratulations!!! You can now file from your desktop or BlackBerry into these folders.



If it helps you to understand the why behind this method, read on . . .(brace yourself, it could get technical).

All incoming mail is pushed to your device. The actual email still resides on your server, and the message on your BlackBerry is merely a reference to that message on the server. If you move the messages (using your desktop on your computer) directly from your Inbox to a personal folder, you are severing that connection to the message on your BlackBerry. The message on your BlackBerry has been orphaned (lost its reference point), and will remain annoyingly in your message list even though you think you have moved it.

This will only work if you always file messages into these (server-based) folders (whether on your BlackBerry or at your desktop). Once you have mastered the 2nd Zen and the Art of BlackBerry Principle - Manage It Anywhere, you will be able to attain a higher level of enlightenment if you reduce the taxonomy that is your personal folder/sub folder nightmare. This is where you're going to have to be honest with yourself...when was the last time your sophisticated filing system actually helped you find something quickly? Less Is More, so do yourself a favor. . . let go.

Oh, and I almost forgot: download a decent desktop search tool like Yahoo Desktop Search or Google Desktop Search. Either of these will allow you to quickly find anything on your computer, and eliminate the need to file anywhere but 'Archive'. My next post will discuss strategies and tactics for BlackBerry Internet Server users (POP3 and webmail accounts).