AI Email Triage

The Email Problem

Email is a massive time sink not because there's too much of it, but because each email requires a decision and most people make those decisions slowly, one at a time.

AI can accelerate both the triage decision and the drafting of responses.

Triage Categories

Establish 5 categories for all email:

1. Action required by me — I need to do something
2. Response required — Someone is waiting for my reply
3. FYI only — Information I should have but no action needed
4. Delegate — Someone else should handle this
5. Junk/delete — No value

AI can sort email into these categories for you.

Using AI for Email Drafting

Paste an email and ask Claude to draft the reply:

Email received: [paste email] Context: [brief background on the relationship/project]

Draft a reply that:

• Answers their question directly
• Proposes Thursday 2pm for the meeting
• Keeps it under 150 words
• Professional but not stiff

Review, adjust, send. This reduces email time by 60–70% for complex replies.

Batch Processing

Rather than processing email throughout the day (which destroys focus), batch it:

• Check email twice daily: 9am and 4pm
• Set aside 30 minutes each batch
• Use AI to draft all replies in sequence
• Send them all at once

AI Email Tools

Superhuman — Fast email client with AI-powered summaries and drafting.

Shortwave — AI-first email that automatically summarizes threads.

Outlook Copilot / Gmail Gemini — Native AI drafting in Microsoft and Google email.

The Zero-Inbox Protocol

1. AI sorts all email into categories (10 min)
2. Handle all "Action required" (deep focus, 20 min)
3. AI drafts all "Response required" replies (10 min)
4. Review and send drafts (5 min)
5. Archive or delegate remainder (2 min)

Total: ~47 minutes for inbox zero, twice daily.