Minimal Email Setup

This is a follow-up to Manu’s and Carl’s articles on creating a minimal email setup. In this, I’ll talk about my personal experiences and share my own setup.

Email is one of the greatest sources of anxiety in my daily work. For years, I assumed my anxiety stemmed from “too many emails”. It doesn’t. The typical email client UI is visually chaotic at best — I was avoiding the UI, not the emails. Could I change that?

Like Manu and Carl, I’m using Apple’s native Mail app. I don’t receive a high volume of emails, and I prefer my inboxes stay organized. I aim to end each week by hitting Inbox 0. If this isn’t you, you likely won’t find value in this setup.

The Inbox

I prefer my inboxes empty. Less in my inbox means less on my plate.

Emails received and composed are simple: there is nothing unnecessary. I enjoy the simplicity of seeing only a sender’s name and subject line. I write all my emails in plaintext and I don’t use email signatures unless required by a client. I don’t often give out my email, so it’s safe to assume those in my inbox already had access to me elsewhere. They don’t need a link to my X in every email.

For the top bar, I started with Carl’s setup but never used the buttons. Now, I’m closer to Manu’s no-button setup: I only kept the search function.

That’s my minimalist email setup. Consider showing Carl and Manu some love, my setup would not exist without their setups. If you found value in this, you might like my writing about using plaintext and Markdown, linked below.

Recommended reading:

• Carl Barenbrug, Minimal Email Setup (2 minute read)
• Manuel Moreale, Minimal Email Setup (4 minute read)
• Caleb Jolliffe, App as Vehicle (2 minute read)