Email that files itself
The goal is not inbox zero. The goal is that when you open your mail, the things that need a human are the only things in front of you.
Sort by what you do, not by who sent it
Almost everyone starts by making a folder per client. It falls apart within a month, because the question you ask at 9am is not "who is this from", it is "does this need me".
Three destinations is usually enough:
- Needs me - a person wrote it and expects an answer
- Record - receipts, confirmations, statements. Keep, never read
- Later - newsletters and anything you would feel fine missing
The rules that do the work
Anything with an unsubscribe link is almost never urgent. In Gmail that one filter is:
has:unsubscribe -from:(billing OR invoices)
=> skip inbox, label "Later"Then catch the automatic senders by the shape of the address rather than one at a time:
from:(noreply OR no-reply OR donotreply OR notifications)
=> skip inbox, label "Record"Do not delete anything with these. Label and archive.
The first month you will get a rule slightly wrong and you want to be able
to find what it ate.
Check it a week later
Open the Later label and scan the subjects. Anything in there you actually needed is a rule that is too greedy. Two or three corrections in the first fortnight, then it stays stable for years.