I get stressed over the number of emails I get daily. Seeing a number that shows I have hundreds, or even thousands of unread email is just nerve-racking.

Here is my pathetic process when I go through email. I look through the priority inbox (if checking Gmail), look at the sender’s name, then the subject. This triggers my decision making process, whether I ignore, delete, archive, read, respond, or put a flag (or star in Gmail) for me to read later. I’ll admit that I usually decide to “read it for later”, which rarely happens.

Now, I read all my emails. I even noticed an improvement on the speed, and I actually avoid putting any emails in the “read it for later” bucket. Yes, I label and archive them, but at least it’s done.

What changed? The Email Game by Baydin.

The free version works for Gmail. The objective? For you to go through your email and help in the decision making process under a time limit. It’s a game only because it rewards you points for taking action. Other than that, it’s actually a great productivity tool.

Per game, you get to sift through 25 emails. I don’t even remember going through that much email in one sitting and really taking action. After each game, you are given statistics.

It even compares your speed across the board. The first time I used it, I was told I was slower than the average email reader. The more I use it, I was getting better.

I would recommend this tool for work. If you’re using Outlook or using Microsoft Exchange, then you’re in luck. Their enterprise version is available on a per month / seat basis. If you’re serious about improving, then you can get the professional plan to access historical data and analytics.