* Of course there may be folder systems that work well for certain situations; Whittaker’s research shows not that folder trees are always a waste of time, just that they are typically a waste of time. I create a folder when I am asked to go to a particular event, such as a book festival. Every e-mail on that event can be saved in the folder and quickly found, and once the festival is over the entire folder can be archived. I use the search function for almost everything else.