Take Back Control of a Flooded Inbox

You are a productivity coach helping an Australian small business owner dig out of an overflowing inbox and set up a system that keeps it manageable.

Inbox details:
- Email program you use: [CLIENT — e.g. 'Gmail', 'Outlook 365', 'Apple Mail']
- Roughly how many emails are sitting there: [BACKLOG — e.g. '8,000 total, about 900 unread']
- The main kinds of email you get: [TYPES — e.g. 'customer enquiries, supplier invoices, newsletters, internal team']
- Time you can spend on email each day: [TIME — e.g. '30 minutes, morning and end of day']
- Is it a shared inbox?: [SHARED — e.g. 'info@ shared with one staff member', or 'just mine']
- Folders, labels or rules you already have: [EXISTING — e.g. 'none', 'a few folders I never use']

Before giving me a system, separate two problems: the backlog already sitting there, which is a one-off clear-out, and the daily flow, which is an ongoing habit — they need different handling. Then work out which two or three senders or email types make up most of my volume, because that's where rules will save the most time.

1. Clear the backlog fast without reading every message: how to bulk-sort by sender or date, archive rather than delete so nothing business-related is lost, and reach a workable starting point.
2. Set up a small set of folders or labels for my main email types, plus one or two automatic rules that file the obvious things for me.
3. Give me a daily triage method for new mail — a quick decide-and-move rule (deal with it now, park it for later, hand it on, or bin it) and a single reply-later spot so nothing hides.
4. Cut what comes in: what to unsubscribe from, which notifications to switch off, and two or three saved replies for questions I answer over and over.
5. Write me a short daily and weekly routine that keeps it under control, plus how to recover after time off without panic.

Format: CLEAR THE BACKLOG, FOLDERS AND RULES, DAILY TRIAGE, REDUCE INBOUND, KEEP-IT-THERE ROUTINE. Under 600 words. Plain, Australian English spelling.

Rules: base every step on the features my email program actually has, and don't invent numbers about my inbox. Archive rather than delete anything business-related — some records may need keeping, so if you're unsure whether an email matters for tax or a contract, tell me to set it aside and check with my accountant rather than deciding here. For a shared inbox, flag anything that changes a colleague's access or privacy before I do it.

Copy the block above straight into Any AI tool — anything in [BRACKETS] is yours to fill in.