Simple Rules to Win at Email

We live in a golden age of correspondence. But that email, Facebook and message queue is a lot longer than it used to be. And it’s not getting shorter. Creating a structure to deal with email is one of the easiest ways to automate this busy work. After all, staring at your inbox won’t make you successful. 

We are all in a race to the bottom, chasing a never-ending dopamine high to reach inbox zero. Email is all-pervasive, and the most important tool in modern business. But we all waste too much time checking and responding to every message we receive. What if you could automate your inbox to filter out the unimportant messages and cut your email time in half? Well there are some simple rules you can follow.

I used to spend hours a day reading every single email that I got. During my first couple of years at General Assembly I often received over a hundred emails a day. These days I've cut that down to under an hour. That's not a humblebrag. Even though it’s become de rigeur to boast about how ‘busy’ you are at work. One thing's true, email shouldn’t be a part of this busyness.

With the process below, I can usually deal with the > 100 emails I get a day in under 30 minutes.  Here’s how to start. 

MINDSET

Let’s start with some simple rules to keep in mind about email.

• When you open an email deal with it immediately.
• Email is not electronic mail. Email is not mail in electronic form. You are not writing a letter.
• Email is not a phone call. If you don't respond to email for a few hours the world will keep turning. Tell anyone who needs your attention immediately to use a phone or talk to you in person if it’s urgent.

• If you’re asking a question ask yourself: can I wait to ask until I see her in person?

• Focusing on your life without always checking email makes you a better person. It’s a fact.

• Once you hit Inbox 0, you're done!  Get the hell out of Dodge.

AUTOMATE YOUR INBOX

1. HOW TO USE FILTERS + LABELS

This is the single most important step you can take without hiring a personal assistant. Some people assign labels to every email that comes into their inbox. But you’re going to use labels to filter out unimportant emails before they even arrive.

First, filter all emails that come to you from a service - eg. Facebook, Twitter, AMEX, and any mailing lists you might be on. The basic premise is to filter out any message that does not need you to respond by email. (eg. You’re not going to reply to a Facebook notification). In Step 3, we will show you how to arrange all these filtered emails.

Create the following labels (select a message, click the labels tab, ‘Create new’)

• To Do - For emails you need to respond to. We will use this in Step 2

• To Read - For emails that have stuff you want to read later

• Services - For emails from any of your services (Facebook, Twitter, NY Times, etc..)

• Money - For emails from your bank etc

For every piece of mail that comes from a service, create a rule that filters this email. Select email -> ‘filter messages like these’ -> create filter. The rule should:

1. Select all messages from this sender

2. Apply the label that we created above

3. Archive these messages (skip the inbox)

Be super aggressive about this point. Anytime you receive an email from an automated service add a filter to it. It will take about a week for you to set up all these filters. For the next seven days, every time you receive a new email from an existing service take the time to apply a filter to it.

2. TREAT YOUR INBOX AS A "TO DO" LIST

Most people treat their entire inbox as one big ‘to do’ list. This basic premise is not a bad idea. The problem comes as new tasks are always added to the top of the list. And old, or de-prioritised ones get lost in the maelstrom.

As we set up your inbox, bear in mind that we are still going to treat it like a ‘to do’ list. Just one with more structure. The first step is to start filtering and labelling your existing messages. As you go through your inbox, apply these questions:

How to prioritise email:

• If: Expected response time is under 5 minutes   

  • Then: Reply immediately and archive

• If: Response is longer than 5 minutes

  • Then: Label as “To Do” (see Step 2) and archive

• If: There is no response necessary  

  • Then: Archive it

• If: You might want to read this later (eg. interesting article not a long email)

  • Then: Apply the label “To Read” and archive

Right now you likely have hundreds or thousands of emails in your Inbox. To start, go back a couple of weeks and do these steps for those emails. Archive the rest (use this search in Gmail:  "in:inbox". This should only show messages in your Inbox. Then just check all messages and "Archive").

You can always respond to those archived emails later. If it was important the sender will re-send. If they don’t, it wasn’t worth responding to in the first place.

Repeat this process until you have ‘0’ emails in your inbox. Voila! You’re done.

3. DON’T BE MONOGAMOUS - USE MULTIPLE INBOXES

Next, let’s deal with the unordered email you have filtered in your inbox. We're going to set up a dashboard for the highest priority emails. These will be filtered by category and limited to the most recent.

First, go into your ‘Settings’ and make sure you are using the Classic Inbox type. Next, turn on the Multiple Inboxes labs feature in Gmail. This feature enables you to see all your most important categories of emails on the same page.

Then, add these 2 sections:

1. To Do
2. To Read

If you have another important label (eg. work, wealth etc) you can add that here. Personally, I prefer just these two and your everyday inbox.

You now have a "To Do" list of tasks to work through during the day, a "To Read" list for all your extra reading. And an inbox to capture all your incoming mail. Simple.

ESTABLISH BOUNDARIES

Email Timeslots

Almost everyone checks their email every few minutes. Whether it's an idle minute before a meeting or in the queue for a coffee. It will take a while to wean yourself off this habit. It’s normal to feel good when you do this. Plus it feels like you have momentum and you're ‘getting shit done’.

Unfortunately, this is a fallacy. It's so easy to spend the whole day hitting ‘reply’ instead of doing valuable work. 

The relevant discussion here is: "Are the incoming messages helping?". After all, most of them aren't initiated by you. But they have the power to change your mood or focus or even how you spend your non-digital time. And they're addictive. When, for some random reason, they ebb and you have a couple of light hours - admit it, you check more often.

The first step to curbing your habit is to carve out 3-4 times during the day dedicated to email. During these periods, deal with each email as outlined in Step 2. And be ruthless.

I'd recommend one block in the morning, one after lunch, one in mid-afternoon. And one in the evening before I leave the office. During the last block, I make sure to process all the emails that are in my ‘To Do’ label. After I’m done for the day, I don’t check my emails. This was a hard one to start but it’s done wonders for my work / life balance.

In the times between these blocks, fight the urge to check your email. If someone does need to get hold of you they’ll call or find some other non-digital means to contact you. Also, turn off email notifications on your phone (better, delete any mail apps completely). This will help you stop checking emails on your phone when you have a quiet minute.

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Using these simple rules, I found I was able to deal with my email in a few short bursts. And actually get on with doing real work. Try it, adapt this system for your own needs. And get out your inbox.