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💡 For help creating processes when you're tackling email, instead of remaining stuck in a never-ending loop. Tip: in settings, don’t display images by default; that way people and software can’t track when you’ve seen a message. You might also consider putting a Five.Sentenc.es link/note in your signature as a reminder to keep things brief.
❤️ **Sent here by a friend? This template is part of the larger Free Time Toolkit. Sign-up to get full (free!) access at ItsFreeTime.com/toolkit, and make sure you get a copy of the book that goes with it: Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business by Jenny Blake. For a full done-for-you business operations hub like the one Jenny describes in the book, learn more about the Free Time Dashboard »
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- Potential Labels to Create
Pointers from Cal Newport
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7bZejoDI8kzOBbyyVhPQeE?si=5389bec7296343e3
- What are these messages coming in? Name the request type.
- Think it through:
- What processes is it implicitly connected to?
- Where is it valuable, where is it not?
- How do I design rules about it, maximizing value while minimizing negative impact?
- What's creating all these messages?
- For each message type, what's the best way to do this process?
In A World Without Email, he asked 1,500 people to categorize emails during a representative work day across seven categories. Average was 8-10 per category per day; only outlier was informational at ~18.
- Planning (setting up meetings/calls)
- Informational (not requiring a response)
- Administrative
- Work discussion
- Client communication
- Personal
- Miscellaneous
JB’s List: Types of Emails (i.e. Processes to Create)
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💡 When processing email, these are the categories of messages I look for
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- [ ] Decision: quick and easy vs. complex)
- [ ] Delegation: To Assign
- [ ] Dedication: Long reply required; option to reply via video (BombBomb) or voice (Vocaroo)
- [ ] Create labels in gmail for “Voice” or “Video”
- [ ] Task: Requires creating a task in our Notion task tracker (due date, delegation, etc.)
- [ ] For Review (in-depth). Example: Brand strategy next steps, tax estimates
- [ ] One particularly vexing subcategory: non-Urgent and annoying — but necessary. For example: Life and disability insurance - so many questions, ambiguity; installing the Nest door lock
- [ ] New process or system needed
- [ ] Podcast
- [ ] Pitches
- [ ] Scheduling (see below)
- [ ] Scheduling
- [ ] Friends
- [ ] Podcast interviews (mine)
- [ ] Podcast interviews (theirs)
- [ ] Misc. Introductions
- [ ] Ex: One random call every Thursday (or one day/month) - exposed to randomness a la Brad Feld’s Random Days
- [ ] Introductions
- [ ] Unprompted, with or without prior agreement from me
- [ ] Prompted (see scheduling above)