Set Up Smart Email Filtering and Auto-Responses

1. Open Gmail in a desktop browser (mail.google.com). 2. Scan your inbox from roughly the last 7–14 days. Notice repeating senders (domains), repeating subjects (e.g. "Receipt", "Weekly digest"), and threads you never want auto-archived. 3. Open Claude (claude.ai) in another tab. Paste a bulleted list that includes: - Sender/domain patterns you see often - Subject-line patterns - Examples of "must never be auto-archived" mail (paying clients, key partners, investors) 4. Ask Claude: "From this inbox patterns list, propose **5–7 buckets max** for Gmail labels (names only). Optimize for what actually arrives weekly—not fantasy folders." 5. If Claude proposes overlapping buckets, reply: "Merge until there are at most **7** buckets; rename anything jargon-heavy to plain English."

1. In Gmail, click the **Settings** gear → **See all settings**. 2. Open the **Labels** tab. 3. Under **Labels**, click **Create new label** for each bucket from step 1. 4. Keep nesting shallow for now (avoid deep label trees until filters are stable). 5. Optional: add a short prefix for grouping (e.g. **FYI/** or **Ops/**) — but only if it helps you scan quickly. 6. In Claude or a scratch doc, write **one line per label**: "What belongs here" — so future-you doesn't drift.

1. Gmail → **Settings** → **See all settings** → **Filters and Blocked Addresses**. 2. Click **Create a new filter**. 3. For **one** stable bulk source (newsletter or tool notifications), set criteria — usually **From** contains `@company.com` or the sender email you copied from an existing message. 4. Click **Create filter**. 5. Check **Skip the Inbox (Archive it)** and **Apply the label** → pick the matching label from step 2. 6. Optional: for pure noise, also check **Mark as read** — only if you're sure you'll never need the unread badge. 7. Click **Create filter** (or **Update filter**). 8. Repeat for **1–2** more **high-confidence** bulk categories — not your whole inbox at once.

1. Pick **one** guardrail style (don't stack all three on day one): **A) VIP filter never archives:** Create a filter where **From** matches a client/partner domain or address → **Never send it to Spam** and **do not** enable "Skip the Inbox" on this rule. **B) Stars:** For a tiny VIP list, star real threads manually once — then consider **Settings → Inbox → Inbox type** experiments only if you like starring. **C) Dedicated Clients label:** Create a **Clients** label and a filter that applies it — keep those threads **in the inbox** unless you're 100% sure archive is safe. 2. In Claude (or your notes), paste a single line: "These senders/domains bypass aggressive archive rules: [list]." 3. Send yourself a **test email** from another account (or ask a friend) that mimics a VIP sender pattern and confirm it stays visible.

1. In Claude, draft **three** short templates you will reuse weekly: - **Acknowledgment + timeline** ("Got it — I'll send X by [day/date]") - **Boundaries / async availability** (when you reply and what you need to proceed) - **Redirect** (calendar booking link, intake form, or "here's what to send me") 2. Edit tone so it sounds like you—fix pronouns, links, and any client-specific phrases. 3. In Gmail → **Settings** → **See all settings** → **Advanced** → enable **Templates** (if not already) → **Save Changes**. 4. Compose a new email (to yourself is fine) → type Template 1 → **More** (three dots) → **Templates** → **Save draft as template** → give it a clear name. Repeat for templates 2–3. 5. Open a real inbound email and insert each template once to confirm placeholders/formatting look right.

1. For each major filter, send a **test message** from another mailbox (or use Gmail's search preview when creating/editing the filter) so you see matching behavior. 2. If two filters conflict, simplify: **one primary dimension per rule** (domain OR subject keywords), and avoid contradictory "Skip inbox" + "Important" expectations. 3. **Outlook on the web (optional):** If you use Outlook instead of Gmail, map concepts — Gmail **filters** ≈ Outlook **Rules**; Gmail **labels** ≈ Outlook **folders/categories**; **Sweep** can mass-archive senders after you trust the pattern. 4. Schedule a **10-minute weekly** inbox tune-up: adjust **at most one** rule unless something is clearly broken. 5. Write a 3-bullet mini checklist of what you shipped today (labels, filters, templates) and pin it in your notes.