Set Up Email Filters That Sort Your Inbox Automatically

Spending ten minutes setting up email filters can save you hours every month. Most providers let you create rules: emails from certain senders, with certain keywords, or to certain addresses can be automatically labeled, archived, or forwarded. You do it once, and the system works forever.

Start simple. Create a filter for newsletters that skips the inbox and adds a "Read Later" label. Another for receipts. Another for notifications from tools you use. Gradually, your inbox becomes a stream of things that actually require your attention — everything else sorts itself.