I hate anything that’s redundant or repeated. And much like everyone else in the world of work, my day is full of it. It’s easy to get to the end of the day and wonder where did the time go. The opportunities for disruption come far and wide. While there are some that are difficult to remove (ie that colleague who wanders over a couple of times a day to find out what you’re doing), many are under our control. The two most notorious ‘time sucks’ are our email and calendars.
Using AI to improve your Email
It didn’t take long for email to go from a great method of communication to an evil time suck. On any given day, I get ~300 emails in my inbox. By using old-fashioned rules…I have gotten that down to about 150ish emails that make the cut. Between evaluating, sorting, reading, and responding, I figure I lose anywhere 60-90 minutes every day dealing with email. And that doesn’t factor in the new email notifications interrupting your day.
Email is a prime opportunity for disruption/automation. There are several tools out there to manage your inbox. I started using SaneBox earlier this summer. If you’re not familiar with SaneBox, it’s an AI-based tool for email management. Once you connect SaneBox to your email accounts, it works its magic.
I have to admit, there were a few weeks where I was a bit uncomfortable. My inbox was whittled down to about 15-20 urgent/important emails that made it. Everything else was sorted into one of a few folders (reply later, news, no reply, and BlackHole). If by chance things end up in the wrong place, I can easily train the app by moving the email to the correct folder.
At the end of the day, SaneBox is kind enough to send a reminder to go check my other folders and help train the system if necessary. As the weeks go on…I occasionally have to reclassify an email or two. But for the most part, SaneBox has it covered.
AI for your Calendar
Now, if I could manage my calendar a little more efficiently, I might see a reduction in my inbox from the back and forth to schedule meetings. Much like numerous tools to organize your email, calendar automation tools are growing widely available. My tool of choice has become CalendarHero.
If you’ve reached out to schedule time with me recently, you were likely introduced to CalendarHero. CalendarHero is an AI Personal Assistant for our team. It’s responsible for working out the details of meeting, lunch, travel and really any other calendar activities that come up. It even makes sure my personal calendar, holidays and vacations are not consumed with invites. Best of all…instead of back and forth exchanges, meetings are scheduled and updated seamlessly. Whether it’s meeting a colleague for coffee at my preferred local coffee shop or an hour long video conference call, it’s got it covered.
So what?
To be clear, this post isn’t about promoting a particular technology or solution. It’s about taking advantage of the tools and resources that modern software can provide. I’ve easily saved 1-2 hours every day just changing up how I deal with email and meetings. That time adds up quickly. More importantly, though, I’ve gained back time to be more focused on my work. This, of course, increases my productivity, makes my days more predictable, and allows me to enjoy my downtime as I’m not constantly worrying about what I missed…or what’s coming next.
Want to be ready for the future of work? Get comfortable with technologies that will automate your day so you can focus on what’s important.