Free printable · Flash Mission · Inbox Zero in 20 Minutes

The Inbox Zero Scorecard

One page you can pin next to the screen. Sort the pile, draft only what's safe to draft, gate every draft, and press send yourself. Print it, run it for a week, and see whether the pass really fits in twenty minutes.

1 · Sort the pile

Every item lands in exactly one column. Routine and reversible → AI drafts. Money, a relationship, or a promise on the line → you write it. Nothing owed → archive.
Item (subject line)AI draftsI write itNo reply
Human-Owned Zone

When you can't decide between "AI drafts" and "I write it", you write it. A human minute costs less than a wrong promise. And nothing on this page ever presses send — that button is yours.

2 · The send gate

Run every AI draft through this before it leaves your outbox. Any unchecked box means rewrite it or write it yourself.
  • Voice — would a colleague or client suspect this wasn't me?
  • Finished — does it actually do the job, or does the recipient still have real work left because it's shallow?
  • Scaffolding — is every leftover placeholder, meta-comment, or template line gone?
  • Commitment — nothing here commits money, a deadline, or a promise I haven't agreed to.
  • Recoverable — if it's wrong, the damage is small and fixable.

3 · The 20-minute pass

Same order, every day. If you're rushed, cut scope — never cut the gate.

Sort · 3 min

Three piles, fast. Don't write anything yet.

Draft · 10 min

AI drafts its pile while you write the two or three that needed you from word one.

Gate · 5 min

Every AI draft, all five checks, no exceptions for "obviously fine".

Send · 2 min

A person clicks send. Every time.

4 · The week's tally

Track the ratio, not the speed. If almost nothing lands in "I write it", your rule is too loose.
DayAI draftedI wroteArchivedMinutes
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Before you paste anything real

Use email that's already fine to share, or scrub it first — swap real names for [NAME], drop account numbers, and put the details back yourself. Never put client records, staff records, health or financial information into a public AI tool.

Want the whole kit?

The prompts, the persistent agent instruction, the four frameworks and the full four-phase build live in the Library alongside the interactive session canvas.

A person always makes the final call.
Acute Incite · powered by theCommons Academy · Flash Mission · The Inbox Zero Scorecard