Inbox zero without doing it yourself: a delegated triage system
How to hand off email triage safely, what to never delegate, and the simple labelling system that gets you to inbox zero in 20 minutes a day.
Maya Chen1 min readThe rule: triage is delegable, replying is (mostly) not
Someone else can sort, label, and draft. You still hit send on anything that commits time, money, or your reputation. That split is what makes delegated triage safe.
The five-label system
- Reply today — needs your voice, drafted for you.
- Reply this week — drafted, scheduled for batch review.
- FYI — read-only, no action.
- Calendar — convert to a meeting or task.
- Trash / unsubscribe — gone, with a one-click unsubscribe where possible.
Security guardrails
Use delegated mailbox access (Google or Microsoft), never share your password. Revoke access in one click. Audit weekly. If a tool ever asks for your password instead of OAuth, walk away.
The 20-minute morning
Open "Reply today", approve drafts, send. Skim "FYI". Done by 8:20. The rest of your inbox is already handled.
About the author
Maya Chen
Operations lead writing about delegation, async work, and freeing founder time.
