I find the content and timing of the email suspicious.
I do not find the act of sending oneself an email suspicious.
I do it all the time. I personally do not use notebooks. For me, paper gets moved, thrown away, or the volume becomes overwhelming.
On the other hand, I can send myself an email and when I need that information I can search using keywords. It’s a great way to keep info long term.
That said, let me repeat: the content and timing are weird on every level. It’s like Bart Simpson sending himself an email saying “I do do anything. You can’t prove it”
Yes, she had to remind herself that this time Obummer wants it “done by the book”. Likely an unusual circumstance.
It would be interesting to see if she had a habit of sending emails to herself, or if this was the only one.
In this case she sent a Top Secret email to her government account on the way out the door. It is not like she was sending herself a to do list or some sort of personal information like benefits information. This appears to be a CYA memo.