Does your inbox feel like a to-do list written by other people? You’re not alone. Even as communication has shifted to chat apps like Slack and Teams, the average knowledge worker receives 117 emails per day. It remains one of the biggest sources of workplace chaos.

In this episode, Alex and Moah take you on a tour of modern email management strategies, from David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” method and Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero to why the infamous 43-folder system never really worked. They reveal why 30% of your inbox is stuff you can’t act on right away, how Gmail’s 15GB of storage changed the “delete vs. archive” debate, and why research shows you’re actually slower if you prioritize organizing messages in folders. Along the way, you’ll hear Moah’s hilarious multi-select purge routine, Alex’s trick for writing “hateful" emails you’ll never regret sending, and career-changing stories of an astronaut and a Michelin-starred chef whose big breaks almost died in spam.

If you’ve ever stared at an inbox full of decisions and felt paralyzed or if you wonder why your inbox continues to feel overwhelming despite spending hours each day clearing it out, this episode is for you. Tune in for research-backed workflows, funny war stories, and practical hacks you can try today—including a printable flowchart to retrain your brain for faster, calmer email handling. Your inbox may never be empty, but after this episode, it won’t own you.

Links from the show!

Microsoft's research on emails received per day https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/breaking-down-infinite-workday

David Allen's Getting Things Done https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done

Merlin Mann's series on Inbox Zero https://www.43folders.com/43-folders-series-inbox-zero

Study: Am I wasting my time organizing email? https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221518713_Am_I_wasting_my_time_organizing_email

Snooze messages to save them for later https://www.boomeranggmail.com/l/gmail-snooze.html

Do, Defer, Delete flowchart https://content.reviveyourinbox.com/img/UltimateEmailWorkflow.pdf

Boomerang for Gmail boomeranggmail.com

Boomerang for Outlook boomerangoutlook.com

Got todos? Get GQueues gqueues.com