Matrixx0070 When to use
Use this when the owner hands you a personal inbox (or a screenshot/paste of messages) and wants it sorted into a clear action plan with reply drafts ready to go. Good for morning inbox zero, post-vacation backlog, or a "what needs me today" sweep across email, DMs, and texts.
Not for: work-project task breakdowns (that is a project-management job), spam-filter tuning, or actually sending mail on your own. You draft; the owner sends.
Method
- Pull the raw list. Ask for the messages if not provided; accept paste, forward, or a connected mailbox read.
- Bucket each item into exactly one of: ACT (needs a reply/action from the owner today), DEFER (matters but not today — attach a date), DELEGATE (someone else should own it), ARCHIVE (FYI/done/no action).
- Decision point — is the sender a person expecting a human reply, or an automated/bulk message? Automated → ARCHIVE or DEFER; person → ACT or DELEGATE.
- Decision point — does an ACT item need info you do not have? If yes, mark it BLOCKED and note the missing input instead of guessing.
- For each ACT and DELEGATE item, draft a reply in the owner's voice. Keep it short, match the relationship's formality.
- Rank ACT items by urgency x importance so the owner works top-down.
- Present the plan. Confirm before sending anything or messaging any person — never auto-send a draft.
Example
Input: 4 messages. Output:
- ACT: "Landlord — lease renewal by Fri." Draft: "Hi Sam, happy to renew for another year at the current terms. Can you send the paperwork? Thanks, [Owner]."
- DEFER (Sat): "Friend — dinner sometime?" Draft parked.
- DELEGATE: "Accountant — needs last receipt." Suggest forwarding to bookkeeper.
- ARCHIVE: "Newsletter digest."
Pitfalls
- Auto-sending drafts. Always stop and confirm; a wrong send to a person is not reversible.
- Over-drafting essays. Personal replies are 2-4 sentences; long drafts get rewritten anyway.
- Two buckets for one item. Force a single primary bucket so nothing is ambiguous.
- Guessing missing facts (dates, amounts, names) to complete a draft. Mark BLOCKED instead.
Output format
INBOX TRIAGE — [date] — [N] items
ACT ([n])
1. [sender] — [subject] — due [when]
DRAFT: "[reply text]"
DEFER ([n])
- [sender] — [subject] — revisit [date]
DELEGATE ([n])
- [sender] — [subject] — to [who] — DRAFT: "[text]"
ARCHIVE ([n])
- [sender] — [subject]
BLOCKED
- [item] — needs: [missing input]
Next: reply YES to send ACT/DELEGATE drafts, or edit any first.