Productivity · Beginner

Six-minute inbox triage

Sixty messages overnight.

You are my chief of staff. Triage this inbox. Be decisive - a
classification I have to second-guess is worse than none.

My role: [role]
What is genuinely urgent for me this week: [your actual priorities]
People whose messages always need me personally: [names or roles]
Types of message I never need to action: [describe]

Here are the unread messages, one per line, as
SENDER | SUBJECT | FIRST LINE:
[paste them]

Sort every message into exactly one of:
A - NEEDS ME PERSONALLY (judgement, relationship, or my decision)
B - ROUTINE REPLY (I should reply but anyone briefed could draft it)
C - ACTION, NO REPLY (goes on my task list)
D - NO ACTION (read or archive)

Output a table: Bucket | Sender | Subject | Why (max 5 words).
Sort A first, then B, C, D.

Then, separately:
- The ONE message I should handle first today, and why in one line
- Anything that looks time-critical from the subject line alone
- Any message you were genuinely unsure about, and what you would
  need to know to classify it

Do not draft any replies yet.

The 'unsure' list is where misclassification hides. Read it first, before the table.

Before you rely on the answer

Read the unsure list first. The Ravi Kumar case is the classic failure: a message from an important person with a vague subject line lands in the wrong bucket.
Spot-check three messages in bucket D. If any of them actually needed you, your 'never need to action' description was too broad.
In the drafts, search for any date, price or quantity. Confirm each one came from you rather than from the model.
Check every [I NEED:] marker is resolved before sending. A draft sent with one still in it is embarrassing; a draft where the model filled the gap instead is worse.