| First, Gates has synchronised his three screens to | | | | messages based on content and importance. Gates |
| function as one large desktop. He can use his mouse | | | | admits he is not "big on to do lists" and instead uses |
| to drag items from one screen to the next. Gates has | | | | e-mail, desktop folders and an online calendar. That |
| said of this, "Once you have that large display area, | | | | way he walks up to his desk, focusses on flagged |
| you'll never go back. It has a direct impact on | | | | emails, checks folders monitoring specific projects and |
| productivity." Gates says this setup allows him to | | | | looks at a few select blogs. He claims to be "very |
| monitor new developments even while he's working on | | | | disciplined" about ignoring Outlook Express's notification |
| something else. He can "bring up a link that's related to | | | | box signaling the arrival of new e-mails. |
| an email and look at it while the e-mail is still in front of | | | | Focus on Rigour |
| me." The screen on the left has my list of e-mails. On | | | | Discipline and focus, believes Gates, are the key to |
| the center screen is usually the specific e-mail I'm | | | | handling the problem of information overload. But he |
| reading and responding to. And my browser is on the | | | | warns that the other problem is "information underload." |
| right-hand screen. This setup gives me the ability to | | | | As he once said in a Fortune article, "Being flooded |
| glance and see what new has come in while I'm | | | | with information doesn't mean we Left screen This is |
| working on something, and to bring up a link that's | | | | where Gates keeps his e-mail accounts Centre |
| related to an e-mail and look at it while the e-mail is still | | | | screen He keeps the specific e-mails or document he |
| in front of me. | | | | is working on here Right screen Gates keeps his |
| How he works | | | | internet browser here have the right information or that |
| At Fortune, Bill Gates talks about his workflow and his | | | | we're in touch with the right people." |
| organization system. On top of his marketing stuff on | | | | Gate's Solution |
| his products, he talks about couple of key things that | | | | Gates observed that digitization of the global economy, |
| involves in his daily work life. Here are some key | | | | evolution in the way people work and breakthroughs in |
| points: | | | | software development are among the trends driving |
| Paperless | | | | this opportunity for Microsoft, its partners and |
| Email is the first communication medium | | | | customers. Bill Gates described how Microsoft is |
| Bill Gates gets about 100 emails a day on average. But | | | | helping customers improve business results by better |
| that's because of rigorous filtering which means only | | | | bridging business processes and business practices. |
| e-mails that he has corresponded with are sent | | | | The convergence of business systems with personal |
| directly to him. An assistant provides a write-up of | | | | productivity software tailored for specific employee |
| e-mails who are not on his permission list or from | | | | roles will enable the people-ready business. |
| unknown individuals. E-mails are crucial to Microsoft | | | | Share point, a programme that creates websites for |
| because that is the company's medium of internal | | | | collaboration on specific Projects and has plans, |
| communication, more so than telephone or anything | | | | schedules, discussion boards on each project all put |
| else. Of course, Microsoft's e-mail systems integrate | | | | together. The other tool he swears by is desktop |
| voice mail and faxes. Gates uses tools like "inbox | | | | search. This allows him to collect all the information on |
| rules" and search folders to mark and group | | | | a theme in one fell swoop, without waste of time. |