Kerner.net

Vacation Email Strategy

Last fall I adopted a zero tolerance policy for my inbox being out of control. Some weeks I would end the week with several hundred messages that needed to be dealt with in some fashion. While I'm in the office it's been relatively easy to keep up. While my inbox has thousands of messages, they're there purely as an archive. Unread messages are dealt with rapidly. As I read each message it either gets left in the inbox to archive, responded to immediately, filed into a folder for later reference, or deleted if I don't need it. This has worked amazingly well when I'm checking email several times a day. Generally email doesn't pile up in a way that is overwhelming. When I'm out of the office on the the other hand...

I was away from the office for a week over spring break on a mission trip and the internet connectivity was sparse at best. When I returned it took an unhealthy amount of time to filter through all of the messages. I'm pretty sure it took me more time to deal with it than it took to receive it all. I determined that I needed a new strategy.

All of my email is in gmail accounts and I use the IMAP support, which makes remote access really easy. I've got the ability to manage it from my laptop, iPhone, or the web. My new strategy is to just read email whenever I get the chance, even when I'm not in the office. Generally that means reading email on the phone. Here's my new conference/vacation email strategy:

• Read mail when possible.
• Process immediately by:
  • Only replying to absolutely urgent email (most can wait a week or two).
  • Saving a draft of an empty reply. Basically I hit the reply button, then save the draft. The goal is just to have drafts started, not to actually have any content.
  • Reading and either saving into an appropriate folder or leaving in the inbox.
  • Saving into a "Needs Attention" folder if it can't be quickly registered.
  • Deleting if it doesn't matter.
• Try to have the unread count in the inbox as low as possible when I return.

I tested the new strategy at Q in April and it worked fairly well, it kept me in the loop without being overly involved and it dramatically reduced the reentry time the following week. It worked so well that I decided it might be a good strategy during vacation as well. I know I probably should 100% disconnect when I'm on vacation, but it's just not something I do well. Part of it is directly related to the volume of email I seem to get and how overwhelming having a huge unread message count is for me.

So this past week in Colorado I tested the theory. Over the course of the week I filed about 25 messages into the "Needs Attention" folder, started and saved drafts for another 30 or so messages, filed a bunch into folders, left many in the inbox, and deleted hundreds. When I returned to the office on Wednesday the only messages that needed attention were those that showed up overnight and my filed messages. By noon all of the email had been closed out and I was able to go about my day. My guess is that the same process using the let it all pile up model would have taken me all day Wednesday to process and several more days to close everything.

I'm really happy with how everything worked out. I flipped through a few emails at a time on my phone or on the laptop whenever I had a spare moment. It never really made me feel like I wasn't on vacation - all of the real work happened after I got back to work. It certainly was nice when I got back to only have a handful of email that needed attention.

How do you handle the pile of email while you're away from the office?

Mountain Biking - Givolo & Creekside Trails

We went biking yesterday afternoon, but never managed to find the trail we were looking to ride. This morning we had a different experience though. Biked from the condo out to Fraser then connected with the Givolo trail, followed it out to Northwest Passage and Creekside. Northwest Passage was through an area that has been clearcut due to the mountain pine beetles. Even though Sarah wasn't so sure about trekking from a blue path to a blue/black we hit Creekside anyway. A bit of mud, some nice rocky terrain, not a lot of climbing. Rode back home on the Fraser River Trail.

After Firepin not working well without cell coverage I decided to try out Trailguru. It worked beautifully. You can see the track of our trip below. It even connects with Google Earth. The afternoon rain has started, but we're planning to hike around at WP Resort and ride the alpine slide after lunch.

Welcome to Wilderness

Welcome to Wilderness
Originally uploaded by kerner

We did our first hike of the trip yesterday, making an attempt to go up Byers Peak. As you can see in the photo, there's still quite a bit of snow on the ground. I'm amused by the sign which says, "Welcome to Wilderness" buried in the snow. We ended up going about four miles, then turning around because of the snow and threat of rain. Not too bad for the first day, an eight mile hike to get acclimated. Today we're going to try to reach Cascade Falls on the Crater Lake trail.

Sushi at Kubota - Japantown, San Jose, Ca

A group of us went out last night to Japantown in San Jose.  It is one of only three such communities left in the US (there were more than 40 before the internment of Japanese during WWII). At a tip from Rob Brooks-Bilson we went to Kubota for dinner. 

Several of us ordered the chef special sushi, which is essentially all you know before it shows up. This is a picture of my plate, although I'd already eaten a couple of pieces. One measure of good sushi is whether or not you need to use soy sauce and/or wasabi. I'd poured some soy sauce into the little bowl, but after lightly dipping the first piece realized it wasn't at all needed. Each piece had a different amount of wasabi that provided varying levels of heat to each piece. The toro and the hokkigai were easily the best two pieces. We finished the dinner with mochi ice cream, always a treat.

We took the light rail to Japantown but by the time we left it had finally cooled down enough to walk back. This evening, the group of people and the sushi, was one of the highlights of the week. 

Blogging from SGF

It seems like a tradition that I make a blog post before I get on a plane in Springfield. This week it's off to San Jose for the Adobe Community Summit - two days of training and two days of meetings with Adobe staff. Last year was an outstanding event, and the schedule for this year looks equally good.

No major food plans (most of my meals are within the scope of summit, but I'm spending this afternoon in San Francisco. Might get something good for lunch. There are two dinners this week I know I'll eat out, but have made no plans. It will depend on where the other summit attendees feel like eating. I'm thinking tapas one night.

Time to board the plane. 

Headed to Copper Mountain

Sitting in the KC Airport getting ready to leave for a few days of skiing and relaxation in Colorado. We're going with our friends Amanda and Greg - should be a fun week. Probably not much blogging, but maybe a bit. I'm going to try and stay relatively unplugged this week.

Adobe Community Summit 2006

 I'm on my way back from the Adobe Community Summit - an event for User Group Managers and Community Experts. It was a phenomenal week of networking, learning more about the Adobe strategy and product lines, and training. After going through two days of Flex training I've got to say Flex is absolutely going to rock the RIA world and when Apollo comes along the desktop environment.

Monday night I ate dinner with my dad at Loft - a sort of mediteranean/american cafe. We sat on the rooftop patio which was great. As hot as it is in San Jose right now it's nothing like the heatwave in Missouri. I ordered the chicken parmesan which was breaded with panko bread crumbs. After using them for the croquettes I've decided that anything that is fried is better with the super crispy panko.

Tuesday several of us went to Tied House - a local microbrewery. The beer was good, but not exceptional the food however was pretty good. I had their game burger which was buffalo. The fries were your standard variety bar & grill french fry - nothing special.

Thursday night was Indian night at Tandori - a small, almost hole in the wall establishment on 1st street behind the  Fairmont. The food was outstanding, the prices are great with large portion sizes. It's done in a quick service style which actually works pretty well.

Friday a group of us went to Bella Mia and celebrated Joey's birthday. Several people had suggested Bella Mia, but I wasn't very pleased with it. I ordered grilled lamb which was served with creamed corn and a potato goat cheese gallete. The food was good, but not worth the price. I'm curious how it is for lunch.

I wish I'd gotten to eat at E&O Trading Company, but I think I'll be coming to San Jose more often in the next couple of years so there's always more opportunities. 

San Jose

 I'm in San Jose this week for some meetings with Adobe. I'm looking for a few good places to eat, particularly something that would be good for a larger group (15-20). Hopefully places in downtown or walkable from downtown. Do I have any blog readers that are familiar with San Jose?

DC: Amsterdam Falafelshop

Amsterdam Falafelshop
Originally uploaded by kerner.

If I had to pick my favorite restaurants from the trip to DC it would be hard to split the top two. For quick, easy, and late night (although we ate lunch there) food the winner would be the Amsterdam Falafelshop.

If you've never had falafel you have to try it - perhaps not something to make at home, but mmm. Falafel is a deep fried ball of spiced, ground garbanzo beans. It is most often served in a pita as a sandwich (as at the Amsterdam Falafelshop) then topped in a variety of ways. 

The menu is amazingly simple. You can get two sizes of falafel in white or wheat pita, two sizes of fries, brownies, and assorted beverages. The menu is really only 3 items long: falafel, fries, brownies. The complexity comes with the topping bar. This is also where the goodness comes into play.

The topping bar consists of nearly twenty different sauces, salads, and pickles. It's possible to build your falafel in such a way that no two bites taste the same but every bite is delicious. This was my goal. I did fairly well for the first two thirds, but by the time I got to the end of eating the toppings had blended together giving me a very flavorful finish. Lest your fries feel left out they include traditional Dutch mayo, ketchup, and malt vinegar for them as well.

Washington Round Up - Day 2/3

Tuesday we went to the Zoo, National Cathedral, and wandered around the Adams Morgan neighborhood. I think zoos seem much larger when you're a kid. Overall I was disappointed with the National  Zoo experience. I don't think it was much better than any of the large zoos in other major cities around the country (St. Louis for example -- maybe even KC). The one distinguishing factor is the giant panda family. We got a great opportunity to see the pandas outside. The adults were very active and the baby was sleeping in a tree.

After the zoo we walked to Adams Morgan for lunch at the Amesterdam Falafelshop. I promise there will be restaurant writeups, but  I'm saving those for easy blogging in the next two weeks (some are already written and scheduled). Adams Morgan seems like a neat neighborhood - I'll probably go back on Saturday.

Saturday afternoon was occupied by our misguided attempts to get to the National Cathedral. It took us over an  hour from Adams Morgan. I've thought the cathedral was cool ever since I first visited it when I was younger - it's even cooler after having visited some of the  large cathedrals in Europe.