With email being such an important communication tool in today’s world, missing an important message can be very easy to do, but have significant negative side effects.

If you are one of the many businesses who use Google Workplace (formerly GSuite) or Gmail for email, this workflow has been a game changer for us and you might like to trial it.

Here is our 2 step (A-B) strategy to never miss another email with Priority Inbox:

A. Enable Priority Inbox

In short, Google’s Priority Inbox feature allows you to keep unread and starred messages at the top of your inbox so they don’t get lost amongst the barrage of other emails you receive.

How to enable priority inbox

1. Enabling Priority Inbox is easy, just click the settings cog at the top right hand corner of your screen (when signed into Gmail on your computer)
2. Then under INBOX TYPE (about half-way down the page) select Priority Inbox, then close the quick settings pane using the cross at the top right hand side of the screen

B. Optimise your email workflow

With priority inbox now enabled, with a few tweaks to your email workflow, keeping on top of important emails should be much easier:

• Star any emails that are important and require action. This essentially acts as an email ‘to do’ list, and will keep important email at the top of your inbox where they can’t slip away. Once you’ve replied or taken the needed action, simply unstar the email to send it to your main inbox and signify the needed action has been taken  
• Having starred an unread emails at the top of your inbox will help prevent important emails from ever being missed. All you need to do is keep an eye on the top section of your inbox, and try and complete tasks and replies as quickly as possible, treating this a bit like a to do do list. 
• For bigger tasks or projects that you don’t want clogging up your starred priority inbox for weeks on end, consider transferring these into your calendar or project management software.   

This email workflow has been a game changer for us as a Google Advertising agency sending and receiving emails all day every day. It’s helped us to never miss important emails, and promptly reply to almost all client emails within 1 business hour. Why not give it a go and see if it works for your business?