Meetings & Inbox

Turn the morning inbox into a prioritized task list

Have AI read overnight email and hand you a short list: what needs you today, what to delegate, what to schedule, and what is just FYI. You make the calls; nothing gets sent or deleted on its own.

Time
About 10 minutes a day
Level
Beginner
Works with
Microsoft Copilot, Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT

What you need

  • AI that can read your mailbox (Copilot in Outlook, Gemini in Gmail, or Claude with the Gmail or Outlook connector), or emails pasted in
  • Your priorities this week: the close, a board meeting, a deal, an audit
  • Who on your team handles what, for delegation suggestions

Steps

  1. Write your priorities and team list once and save them with the prompt.
  2. Each morning, run the prompt over email since your last check.
  3. Work the 'Needs you today' list first. Approve, edit or discard each suggested delegation.
  4. Move anything with a date into your calendar or task tool.
  5. Read the payment and bank-detail list yourself, every time. Never act on it from the summary alone.

The prompt

Fill in the highlighted brackets
Review my email received since [time/date]. My priorities this week: [list]. My team: [name: area they own].

Sort every email into one of these groups:
1. Needs me today: decisions, approvals, anything from [key people] or with a deadline within 48 hours
2. Delegate: suggest who on my team and draft a one-line handoff
3. Schedule: needs real time but not today; suggest when
4. FYI: no action, one-line summary
5. Ignore: newsletters, notifications, promotions

For each item in groups 1-3 give: sender, subject, the specific action needed, any deadline stated in the email, and a link to the message.

Separately, list every email that asks to send money, change bank or payment details, or buy gift cards, and flag anything unusual about it. Do not classify those as handled.

Do not send, reply to, delete or archive anything. Only quote deadlines that are written in the email; if none is stated, say "none stated".

Review before you use it

  • Skim the Ignore pile for a day or two until you trust the sorting.
  • Deadlines match what the email actually says.
  • Every payment or bank-detail change is verified by phone using a number you already have, not one in the email.
  • Delegation drafts are yours to send; the AI should not send them.

Never paste into an AI tool

  • Don't forward emails containing passwords, full account numbers or personal data into a consumer AI tool
  • Use a business or enterprise AI plan that does not train on your data, and follow your company's AI policy.

Tips

  • Connected tools (Copilot in Outlook, Gemini in Gmail, Claude with a mail connector) can read the inbox directly, so you skip the copy-paste.
  • Run it at the same time every day. A scheduled run can have the list waiting when you sit down.

Educational content, not professional advice. AI output can be wrong; review it before relying on it. Disclaimer