Welcome to Practical Magic! A productivity and intentional living newsletter with quick, actionable tips that automate, delegate, or speed up your work.

Read time: 3.5 minutes

(Read to the end for a special announcement!)

I’m going to share a real-life horror story with you all.

About a year ago, I was out to lunch with a dear friend and asked if she got my email about our upcoming trip.

“Oh hmm, let me check,” she replied as she whipped out her phone onto the table.

I saw her hover a finger over the iPhone mail app and…

a glaring red icon peered back…

indicating…

over…

40,000…

…unread emails!

I screamed. She laughed. This is likely why we’re such good friends.

Now, regardless of whether you’re the screamer or laugher in that story, I’m sharing inbox principles that can apply to any type of communication channel (email, social media, snail mail).

I consider an “inbox” to be anything where you’re having to take in information.

I think this definition holds especially true as technology advances. Your email might have 40,000 unread notifications today, but tomorrow it’ll be your smartwatch, and the day after that it’ll be your “smart”-glasses.

This is no way to live! It’s a drain on the mind and our mental state.

So let’s free up that space together.

Batch review your inbox.

We have to start here.

You may be hyper-efficient at following the framework below, but if you are checking your inbox every hour, you will still be captive to it’s demands.

Block out two or three 30-minute time slots per day.

I include Slack, social, and emails during my batch review.

This may feel challenging at first, but behavior change usually does. It’ll get easier the more you stick to it.

The 5D Framework For Inbox Management

(This is my take on a framework that I’ve seen some people refer to as 4D or 5D.)

During your inbox “check-in” times, the goal is to fly through your email 🚀 

This is meant to feel fast.

With each email, select from the following actions:

• DELETE or archive if no action is needed. Don’t let unnecessary emails take up visual space in your inbox.

• DEFER to a later date by creating a task in your work management software (I use ClickUp) and schedule a due date or “revisit” date.

• DELEGATE to someone else (like a virtual assistant) or create a to-do for later (see: Defer) to build an automation.

• DEPOSIT the info into your work management tool for reference later.

• DO something if it'll take a minute or less, like a quick reply or unsubscribe.

Most of my check-ins now take less than 30-minutes because I can get through a wild amount of messages using the framework above.

How do you want your inbox to feel?

You know those cliche Pinterest posts, like “Every brunette needs a blonde BFF” featuring two girls looking off into the distance.

I think the same holds true with inbox management.

For every person that has 40,000 unread emails, they have a fanatic inbox zero BFF. Who’s the psycho in that situation? I’ll let you decide.

Always in your corner,

Alex

Systems Strategist

More Practical & Magical Finds ✨

I have a special announcement this week!

I was selected to be a guest professor for Scaling School.

What’s Scaling School, you ask? It’s the first holistic “campus” for online business owners to get everything they need in one place to scale.

I’m excited to support this epic program as guest professor for their Operations department.

What I find really powerful about this program is that it’s not a course or one-size-fits all method. It’s a hands-on holistic membership for entrepreneurs needing to scale – and wanting education and tactical help in one place.

If you’re at that point where slowly growing and raising your prices doesn’t seem sufficient for the kind of impact you’re looking for, I would love to see you in Scaling School!

I love the way they laid out this membership. By signing up, you’ll get:

• Initial and ongoing assessments of you and your business

• A dedicated academic advisor to guide you through your custom schedule

• On-demand access to a robust and comprehensive curriculum covering the 6 core competencies of the Easy Scaling Method

• Real-time access to Jordan, the entire Easy Scaling team, vetted guest professors like ME 👋 for personalized scaling strategies and in the moment feedback to overcome challenges

• Every resource, template, email, checklist you’ll ever need (the Easy Scaling Library is DENSE)

• A deeply supportive community of women kicking ass and celebrating together

Scaling School is changing the way powerful women scale up. If you’re feeling even the tiniest little heart hop to give it a go, I can’t wait to be a part of your journey.

Learn More Here (early enrollment ends July 15)

If you implement any of these tips or learn something interesting, I'd love to hear from you! Just reply to this email or connect with me on social.

👋 Find me on LinkedIn or Instagram and now Threads👋

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