Fri, 30 Apr 2010
Mailing lists can wait
Most of my email comes to me via mailing lists. When someone asks a question or starts a discussion, I used to jump at the chance to be the first to reply with an answer. I don't want to unsubscribe; often, I know something that can move the conversation forward or help someone out. But I'm trying to allocate more time for myself away from computing these days.
So now I let these discussions mature a little before I see them. All mailing list messages are delivered to a folder called OneDayDelayed. Every night, my server moves those messages to my INBOX. If someone else has already contributed what I would have, perfect! If not, I still have a chance to participate.
Sometimes, if I have a long backlog of email, I disable that cron job, sometimes for up to two weeks.
Being able to turn the cron job on and off really helps; when I have time to deal with mailing lists, I do. Otherwise, I know the messages will be there when I do have time. Since this OneDayDelayed change, I've gained have a sense of calmness and distance from them. I like that.
(Note that if you add me to the CC: line of a mailing list thread, I will see your message immediately, for better or for worse.)
