3 Quick Email Automations To Save You Time

How often do you find yourself opening your inbox, telling yourself it’ll just be a quick check—and before you know it, an hour has slipped by? It’s like walking into a bakery, surrounded by the smell of fresh pastries, and trying not to indulge. You know you should be focusing on the high-impact tasks that move your business forward, but somehow, emails always pull you in.

And let’s be real—it’s not just the time spent reading them. There’s the digital rabbit holes we get sucked down because something made us curious. And it’s the constant decision-making. Which ones need a response now? Which can wait? This decision fatigue leaves you staring at your screen, feeling drained, and procrastinating on what really matters.

The truth is, email is designed to derail your day. It’s 95% other people’s agenda, and your brain quickly gets into the habit of responding to whatever’s coming in instead of focusing on YOUR priorities.

But, I’ve got you covered!  Here are 3 quick and easy-to-implement automations that will help you cut through the chaos and save time in your email.

1. Auto-Delete Emails You Want But Don’t Need

We get emails every day that we don’t really need, but we may want to stay subscribed for some reason. For example, I’m subscribed to Michael’s Craft Store emails because they give you awesome coupons. But I don’t want to be seduced into going shopping. So, all those emails are auto-deleted. When I’m heading to Michael’s, I simply go into my deleted emails and find the latest one. 

I hear people say all the time, “I just go through my inbox and delete them.” The thing they don’t realize is that stepping through those emails and deleting them is using up their “decision budget.” We can only make a limited number of decisions before we get decision fatigue. Don’t waste your decision budget (not to mention that rabbit hole risk) on emails you can have an automation delete for you. 

I also use this for some lists I’m on that send way too many promotions, but I bought their products and don’t want to lose access.

Other examples:

• Newsletters from stores you rarely shop at but will at some point.
• Flight deals
• Amazon purchase and shipping notifications
• Flash sale notifications that you only need when you’re actually shopping.

To implement this:

In Gmail, from your inbox, select (check the box) for one email you want automatically deleted. Click on the three vertical dots in the menu bar just above your emails and select “filter messages like these.” Choose how you want to identify the email: “From” (the default) will apply to all emails from that email address. If you only want to delete some emails you can use the “Subject” or the “To” fields. Hit “Create filter.” Now you need to identify what you want to happen; check “Delete it.” Then check the last box, “Also apply filter to matching conversations” to delete the emails you’ve already received. Finally, press “Create filter.” POOF! All the emails that meet your filter’s criteria have been moved to your “Deleted” folder, and whenever new ones come in, they’ll automatically go there too. Don’t you feel lighter already?

2. Auto-Archive Informational Emails for Future Reference

I know a lot of people who keep thousands of emails in their inbox and just search for whatever they need. And … they also end up missing emails they meant to take care of because they got lost in the overflowing inbox. Imagine, in the physical world, trying to find that car title somewhere in a refrigerator box full of mail.

One of the best features added to email was the archive feature. Years ago, your only option was to delete an email or move it to a folder. The archive feature takes it out of your inbox, but the email still shows up in “All Mail.” So you can still search for it there, but it allows you to limit your inbox to what you need to take action on.

I use this for my monthly website report so I can refer back to it later. Also, for my utility bills that are received via email.

Other examples:

• Recurring emails from software companies
• Mileage plan reports
• Newsletters for a subject I’m not focusing on right now but want to check out later

To implement this:

Follow the instructions for automation tip number 1 above, but choose “Skip the inbox (Archive it)” from the list of actions you want the filter to take.

Again, archived messages won’t appear in your inbox, but they won’t be deleted either. To find them, just switch your view to “All Mail.”

3. Label and Archive Emails to Batch for Later Action

Batching tasks saves time. And by having automation do the batching for you, you’ll save even more time. This is easily achieved by adding a label and archiving the email to get it out of your inbox. It’s kind of like filing the email in a folder (but Gmail uses “labels” instead of “folders”). All of the emails that have the same label will appear when you switch to that label view from the menu on the left side of your screen.

I use this for recurring business expenses that are paid automatically so they are all together and easy to find when I do my bookkeeping. 

Other examples:

• Invoices to pay
• Articles to read
• Marketing samples you want to keep

To implement this:

Follow the instructions for the other tips above, but check three boxes from the list of action the filter will take: 

• “Apply the label: [Choose label]” – lets you pick a label you’ve already created, or create a new one
• “Skip the inbox (Archive it)”
• “Also apply filter to matching conversations”

When it feels like your inbox is running your day, remember that you have the power to take back control. By implementing these simple email automations, you can clear the clutter, reduce decision fatigue, and finally focus on the high-impact tasks that truly grow your business.

Take a few minutes to implement these strategies so you can prevent your inbox from constantly filling up. With just a few quick tweaks, you’ll find yourself spending less time in your inbox and more time doing the work that matters most. And you’ll feel a whole lot less stressed too.

Comment below and let me know how many emails you were able to automatically filter.