Inbox Zero Becomes a Game With EmailGa.me
Admit it, your e-mail inbox is currently as full as it gets, right? It’s probably been like that for days now; there are some emails which you’ve replied to, but you’re waiting for a response, some of them are not sorted out yet, while some of them are just junk ready to get trashed.
If you’re not practicing inbox zero daily, your inbox will get crowded and it will get really hard to find the right email you’re looking for. Cleaning up that mess is a pain in the neck, so why not use some gamification theory and make it more fun and challenging? Try out the Emailga.me, a smart and fun way to handle your email by Baydin.
The Email Game
The Email Game is a free web application/game in which you need to reply to as many e-mails as possible in as less time as possible. You’ll just have to grant it the access to your Gmail account and it will start opening your e-mails in its own interface.
The time limit will push you forward to quick decisions and short, but precise replies. You’ll need to archive the message or delete it, so choose quick! Don’t write that long reply no one will read; be short and concise!
Are You Quick Enough?
You can also use The Email Game for composing emails; you’ll get three minutes in total; it’s up to you to distribute it between writing new emails, replying to others and cleaning up your inbox. If you need to take a break, pause the countdown by clicking on the timer.
It’s like a game of blitz chess; you don’t have too much time to think, just act. However, if an email requires some extra time, you can skip it so it will wait for you in your inbox. You can also “boomerang” an e-mail, which is like archiving, but will bring it back to your inbox later. When writing a reply, you’ll also get the option to add some time. Use it to write the actual reply, not to beat the system.
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Once you’ve cleared up your inbox, you’ll get some statistics about your game, as well as the option to tweet your result or post it on your Facebook wall. The system will compare you to other players during the week and rank you. You will also find out how fast you can handle your emails and see how many messages you’ve replied to, how many got archived etc.
If you’re all about keeping your inbox clean and you need that starting push, try out the Email Game. It will help you clean it up and I’m hoping you’ll be able to keep it that way in the future 😉
