Inbox triage in ten minutes a day

Processes that need more than one tool

Each process below uses several tools, each for the job it does best. Any AI chat assistant works where one is named.

1. Sort into four labels

   Tools, in order: your email inbox → an AI email assistant

   1. Create four labels and filters for senders you already know in your inbox.
   2. Let an AI email assistant suggest labels for the rest and correct it when it is wrong.

   The prompt for this process

   Help me sort my inbox into four labels.
   
   My business: [one sentence]
   Senders and subjects I get often: [list, e.g. supplier names, platform notices, newsletters]
   
   Write four labels (reply today, waiting, read later, receipts and notices) with a one-line rule for each. Then write filter rules for the senders I listed: sender or subject, which label. List the kinds of email that should never be filtered away, such as customer complaints.
   
   Start with the four labels.

   Copy the prompt

2. Summarise long threads

   Tools, in order: an AI email assistant → a document

   1. Ask the AI in your inbox for a summary of each long thread.
   2. Paste decisions and open points into a document for the project.

   The prompt for this process

   Summarise this long email thread for me.
   
   Thread: [paste, with customer personal data removed unless my business has an agreement with this tool that covers it]
   My role in it: [e.g. the supplier, the shop owner]
   
   Write: what was decided, what is still open, what is asked of me and by when, if a date is given. Quote the line each point comes from. If something is unclear, say so instead of guessing.
   
   Start with what was decided.

   Copy the prompt

3. Draft replies you check

   Tools, in order: any AI chat assistant → your email inbox

   1. Ask the chat assistant for a draft in your voice using only facts you give.
   2. Paste it as a draft in your inbox, change it and send it yourself.

   The prompt for this process

   Draft a reply to this email in my voice. I will check and send it myself.
   
   The email: [paste, without sensitive customer data]
   Facts for the answer: [e.g. delivery date, price from my list]
   Two replies I wrote before, for my tone: [paste]
   
   Write a reply of at most 100 words that answers only with my facts. If a fact is missing, write [FACT?]. No promises I did not give, no exclamation marks. Then list anything in the email I have not answered.
   
   Start with the reply.

   Copy the prompt

4. Replace repeat questions with a form

   Tools, in order: Typeform → your email inbox

   1. Build one Typeform that collects the details you always ask for.
   2. Link it in your reply template and your email signature.

   The prompt for this process

   Help me turn a question I answer by email every week into one short Typeform.
   
   The repeat question: [e.g. can you make a custom size]
   Details I always have to ask for: [list]
   What happens after they fill it in: [e.g. I reply within my working days]
   
   Write the form: a title, at most 6 questions with answer types, and a closing message that says what happens next without promising a time I cannot keep. Then write one line for my email signature that links the form.
   
   Start with the title.

   Copy the prompt

5. Review the rules weekly

   Tools, in order: a spreadsheet → your email inbox

   1. Note in a spreadsheet each email that landed in the wrong label this week.
   2. Fix one filter or label rule in your inbox per week.

   The prompt for this process

   Help me review my inbox rules for the week.
   
   My four labels and their rules: [paste]
   Emails that landed in the wrong label this week, from my spreadsheet: [paste: sender, subject, label it got, label it should have]
   
   Find the pattern behind the mistakes and suggest one rule change that would fix most of them. Say what could go wrong with that change. Do not suggest automatic sending or deleting.
   
   Start with the pattern.

   Copy the prompt