The Ideal Email Folder Structure – The Sweet Setup

It has been years since I have given much thought to how I use folders in my email, but seeing this article brought it to mind. I generally agree with this article to not create a ton of folders like most people (including myself) did decades ago. But I also don't recommend just using Inbox and Archive as this article suggests.

Here is my approach: use folders for retention and workflow reasons, and never for topics. Here is how this looks for me:

• Auto Replies: I create mail rules that catch things like Out of Office messages and I route them here out of my normal workflow.
• Scratch: This is like my desktop but for email. Items go here if it is something that requires action but I cannot get to it quickly, and for some reason doesn't go to OmniFocus.
• Save: I put receipts and things in here, and this folder automatically deletes after 365 days.
• External: I have email addresses on GMail and iCloud, and they autoforward to this folder. I don't intermingle them with normal mail since nobody should be sending to those addresses.

I also use Sanebox which manages a separate set of folders that I don't really interact with directly.