How to declutter email and manage projects

Inbox Zero: 6 Strategies That Actually Work Email, am I right? If you are like me, you probably have hundreds if not thousands of emails across multiple inboxes. You respond, you delete, and yet it seems like a Sisyphean task as the next day, your inbox is full again. My New Year's resolution was to reduce my work inbox to fewer than 500 emails and my personal inbox to below 100. I haven't accomplished that yet. So, I decided to ask AI for solutions and discovered practical strategies that significantly helped me reduce the number of emails in my inbox. 1. The 2-Minute Rule If responding takes less than 2 minutes, do it immediately. Don't let quick tasks pile up. 2. Schedule Email Time Blocks I check email just 3 times daily: Morning, midday and end of day. This prevents constant interruptions and reclaims 90+ minutes of focused work daily. 3. Use the "Touch-It-Once" Principle When you open an email, decide its fate immediately: • Respond • Delete • Archive • Delegate • Schedule for later action Tools that help me implement this: • Todoist: I forward emails requiring action to my task manager with one click • ClickUp: For emails that become projects, I create tasks directly from my inbox • Microsoft Teams: I've moved quick questions and daily communications from email to Teams chats No more marking as unread or revisiting the same messages repeatedly. 4. Create Smart Filters & Templates Set up filters for automatic sorting and use templates for repetitive responses. I reduced my email processing time by 40% this way. Some tools that transformed my workflow: • Gmail Filters: I automatically label emails by project and route newsletters to a "Read Later" folder • Microsoft Outlook Rules: Set up rules to move emails to dedicated folders • Copy'Em (MacOS): Saved templates for common responses (meeting scheduling, information requests) • Boomerang: Schedule emails to return to my inbox if no response within 3 days • Created a new inbox for general inquires and my admin helps monitor it. 5. Embrace the Weekly Reset Every Friday, I spend 20 minutes clearing out my inbox. This ritual prevents weekend anxiety and gives Monday a fresh start. I also use in-flight time to respond to messages; no Wi-Fi needed; they will go out when I get back online. 6. Ruthlessly Unsubscribe I dedicate 10 minutes monthly to unsubscribing from newsletters and promotional emails I no longer read. For each new subscription that comes in, I ask: "Does this provide real value?" If not, I unsubscribe immediately. Tools like Unroll.me have helped me identify and mass-unsubscribe from dozens of mailing lists I didn't even remember joining! What email management strategies work for you? Share in the comments! #ProductivityHacks #EmailManagement #WorkSmarter #ProfessionalDevelopment

Everyone talks about using AI for writing. I use Claude to run my day. It’s not a tool. It’s an operations partner—if you give it the right prompts. Here’s exactly how I use Claude as my assistant (connected to Gmail, Drive, and Calendar): 1. Morning Briefing Prompt Start the day with clarity. “Check my calendar, unread emails, and recent docs. Summarize today’s meetings with prep notes. Pull any open loops or tasks from emails. Suggest a time-blocked plan for deep work + admin. Flag anything urgent or out of alignment.” I open Claude before I open my email. 2. Pre-Meeting Prep Prompt No more last-minute scrambling. “I have a meeting with [Name] about [Topic]. Pull key context from emails, docs, and last calendar invite. Extract action items from last call. Draft talking points and 3 smart questions to ask.” Perfect for client calls or collabs. 3. Research & Synthesis Prompt Working on a project? Claude becomes your researcher. “I’m working on [project]. Pull relevant threads from Gmail. Scan docs with [keyword] and summarize insights. Build a timeline of progress + open items. Draft a quick project update I can send or post.” This alone has saves me 3 hours a week. 4. Workspace Organization Prompt Your brain, but with folders. “Find all docs related to [project]. Suggest categories or themes. Create a folder/tag structure that makes sense. Highlight outdated files or duplicated info. Build a cheat sheet with links + purposes.” Perfect if your Google Drive looks like a tornado. 5. Smart Inbox Prompt Catch up without the chaos. “Find unread emails from VIP contacts. Summarize key threads and flag what’s urgent. Draft quick replies where possible. Link any emails to related docs or calendar events. Build a follow-up plan so nothing slips.” It’s triage for your inbox—with logic. Claude isn’t just for content. It’s for operations, decisions, and daily momentum. Want more tips like this? Join 3,400+ readers of 9-To-Thrive → https://lnkd.in/gXMzXweK

Here's a step-by-step to drastically reduce the deluge of emails between you and your clients/internal team. An absolute GAMECHANGER 👇 Enter: The Collaboration Doc 👏 I’ve stolen this idea from Cal Newport’s podcast Deep Questions. I immediately implemented it with my own clients and they LOVE it. Fundamentally, most people don’t need a response *right now* – they just need to be safe in the knowledge that everything is being taken care of. So all the Collaborative Doc is is a very clean, clearly outlined document that you and your clients and/or your internal teams can use asynchronously to reduce overhead tax. Overhead tax is all the unnecessary (and exhausting) meetings and emails flying back and forth that surround a project. Here’s how to drastically reduce your overhead tax immediately: Step 1: Create a shared document This could be in Notion, Google Docs, Word or whatever works best for you and your client. Make sure your privacy settings are all correct. Step 2: Make it incredibly easy to navigate I have mine split into: 📆 Key Details 📝 Meeting Notes 🧠 Brain Dump Within Brain Dump I’ve further split that into all the key stakeholders so they know exactly where to put their notes. Break this down however you want. They key is that it's all clear and formatted, it looks nice, but it's not overworked. This should be as bare bones as possible. Step 3: Agree a cadence The point here is to reassure your client that you will absolutely refer to their notes. If you have a weekly Wednesday meeting for example, say that you will check all notes first thing on a Tuesday. They can be confident that nothing will go un-reviewed and anything that needs to be actioned before the meeting will be. Meanwhile, you get to be clearer on when you work on each client/project, as everyone has a set cadence. Step 4: Be religious about your collaborative documents This only works if your client has absolute trust that you will keep the document updated and reviewed. Do not let anything slip! WHY THIS WORKS Instead of emailing back and forth, clients put any questions, ideas, notes etc into this one, living document. It helps you to whittle communication down to the essential, increasing the value of your work, your time and the experience your client has (remember it's reducing overhead tax for them, too!) I've done the above example for working with a client, but it works just as well for internal teams, too. It gives everyone more time as people know that things are documented and will be picked up, so there's no need to just fire little things off on slack unless they're actually needed there and then. For both groups, streamlining like this means that you can save time and energy for when a response really is needed right away. Simple, I know, but honestly SUCH a winner. Do you do this already? What problems do you foresee and how would you tweak it?