A little while ago, I realized that my custom made rules for automatically categorizing my work email were completely broken and my inbox had become a source of anxiety. The key problem was that my rules had become to complex and unwieldy to maintain. So I simplified them and it has done *wonders* for my sanity. # 1. Check your email at fixed intervals during the day I check my email 3 times a day, once at 10 AM, another at 1 PM and one last time 30 minutes before I end my day. The main output of job is still code/Azure Dev Ops and so email is a necessary evil for me. To that end, I limit its impact upon my day to just those 3 instances when I am transitioning between work sprints in the day. **But what if I miss a VERY important email?** People should know that if anything is so urgent, they should just use teams and message me directly **Seems irresponsible.** Try it and I dare you to tell me you aren’t doing more for your company than before # 2. Create a few basic rules - Anything that doesn’t contain me in the `TO` or `CC` is auto archived. - Specific email groups are kept in the inbox - Any email from anyone in my command chain is kept in the inbox. - If I am in the `To` or `CC` and its not an explicitly excluded email, it gets to stay in the inbox. # 3. When checking email, do it in 3 passes First pass, Identify the important emails you will reply to and/or take action on and click the `pin` button. If you see any emails that really don’t belong in your inbox, ignore them for now. Second, go through your list of pinned items and if it takes less than a minute to reply and you already have the requisite knowledge for the reply, go for it. If it takes a bit of research before replying, leave it in the pinned section. On the final pass, if there are emails that need a lengthy amount of time (say > 1 hour), go ahead and add them to my task manager and then unpin the email. # Why approach email this way: Aggregation of tasks The idea is that by segregating these 3 separate activities into their own category, you speed up your execution of them and make it easier cognitively.