Front office

The front office holds only what really needs you – every email with my suggestion and a reason. You decide with one click.

What’s here

The Front office is your workplace. Here I put every email in front of you that needs something from you: a decision, a sign-off or a quick look. Everything else (ads, newsletters, automated mail) I handle at the door beforehand or file (Sorting out).

On the left is the list of items, on the right exactly one item.

The folders

The list is grouped into folders, like with a real chief of staff:

• Decision folder – I need your decision here: it involves money, a commitment, a deadline, a signature or something only you can judge. My recommendation is included, usually with two or three options.
• Sign-off folder – fully prepared. The reply is written, you just sign off. With several entries, the “Go through all …” button above the folder opens it as a stack. Only there: swiping right or → signs off (sent after the undo window), left or ← puts it off until tomorrow. In the normal list, swiping right files the item instead (Setting aside).
• Reading folder – for your information, summarised in one sentence. Mark all read and file clears the whole folder with one click.

Two special cases join them: Cold outreach collects sorted-out sales emails you can have vetted together (Replying with Consent+), and Set aside shows, collapsed, what you’ve set aside for later (Setting aside).

The item

At the top of an item sits a tag (Your decision, Reply ready or For your info), next to it what I read out of the email: VIP, authenticity, deadline, amount, whether a signature, payment or meeting is due. Below that, subject, sender and who the email actually went to.

Then comes my card: one sentence saying what I suggest and, smaller underneath, why. For decisions the options sit right on the card. Below are Your reply for editing, The email in the original and a field for instructions about this email. How you sign off, change or discard is under Send, file, vet.

Keyboard: Keyboard: J/K next/previous · Enter done · E edit reply · S later · X discard.

Why is this here?

Every card tells you: the suggestion is in bold, the reason underneath. Next to it is Why? – one click explains this very case: how I know the sender (VIP, known, authority, service provider), why the mail is in this folder, whether there is a deadline and whether anything about it looks suspicious to me. An item is created when an email comes through the door and I recognise that it means work or that you should know about it. Categories you’ve marked as important I always put in front of you (Categories and folders). In the email view, Why is this mail here? explains why it landed in your inbox at all.

The status line above the list shows what I’m working on; Done today opens the History with what is about to be sent (with stop), what’s done today (with undo) and what was set aside. The ⋯ at the top right offers Refresh, Re-check inbox, Settings and Pause.

Difference to the inbox

The Inbox shows all mail like Gmail, with categories and folders. The front office shows only items: emails that need you, with a ready suggestion. An email can sit in both; from the inbox, See suggestion takes you there.

The front office only works if you’ve allowed me both: Front office: read mail and prepare replies and Sort out offers that don’t fit. Pause puts it on hold; new mail then only goes to the inbox until you turn it back on.

If something’s wrong

If something sits in the front office that doesn’t belong there, change the category right in the item or use Discard suggestion in the ⋯ menu. After filing I sometimes ask “Always?” – then I file emails from that sender straight away from now on (Sender rules). If an email is missing instead, mark its category as important or give me an instruction about it.

Related

Send, file, vet · Quick actions · Setting aside · Done report · Desk · Inbox