I’m totally convinced there’s nothing you can’t outsource now. Thanks to Tim Ferriss, checking email just became one of those insane outsourcing applications. He has been experimenting with the process of outsourcing his inbox in order to maximize his time and literally cut hours out of an already taxing chore.
This can sound like a scary proposition. After all, is anyone else as qualified to answer your own email? Well yeah, plenty of people actually. The way he talks about setting up a list of rules and actions for his assistant appears like training a robot — or an email clone. But honestly, if you are one of those people who spend 4+ hours drilling through messages every day, get on board. By assembling a procedure and routines, assistants are able to literally emulate the way you would respond to emails.
Use different email addresses for specific types of incoming messages. Tim has a very private address used only for corresponding with his assistant. This enables him to carry out actions for priority emails. Using voicemail to take care of those tricky messages is also a great idea.
Expect issues. You’re hiring an employee here. Tim admits it takes upwards of 8 weeks to get this system on track. But like all things worth doing, if it was really easy then everyone would have outsourced email by now. Check out his list of outsourcing agencies that could handle the workload for you.
The downside here is that it costs money. If you can’t afford a personal assistant, look for simpler solutions. Trust can be another issue for control freaks. One or two mishaps could make you seem like a robot — or that you don’t care enough to respond to your own email. Of course, if the system works then nobody will ever know the difference!
