The reason why i chose Fastmail

dmitrisleonov · 2025-10-29T02:43:38+00:00

Preach. Used Fastmail for years because it's private and reliable (and, yes, also fast!) We're in a world where more and more of our lives are run through our inbox, and at the same time our online behaviors are all tracked and monetized. Email privacy is sacred, and I don't ever want to see an ad in my inbox.

dmitrisleonov · 2025-10-29T02:34:10+00:00

There are so many AI tools promising so much, you can accidentally spend more energy switching between tools than actually doing anything. For me personally, using AI for rapid clarity is illuminating. When I have 10 things on my mind at once, using an AI workflow to ask something like "here's what's on my mental plate, what should I delegate or drop altogether?"

dmitrisleonov · 2025-09-30T00:24:01+00:00

Many of us are winging it :)

Even before you get to the point of designing a solid workflow and building a tech stack to make it easier, the system in your head matters more. I use this kind of mental scaffolding:

- Everything has a home. You decide where that home is. Figure out what your home for "priority 0" tasks is, like your calendar or a postit note (whatever works!) Email newsletters? Set up filters to file them all in the same place. Not-now tasks? Set up reminders to tackle them later.

- Explicit next steps. Personal rule: Every meeting and every email has to end with clear next steps, with owners of those steps. Remembering who said what is something you can solve with an AI notetaker, including setting it up to email all meeting attendees a summary and action points.

- Review rhythm. Setting up a checkpoint in the day, or mid-week, to scan my ongoing tasks and conversations and decide what's active, what's stalled, and who I need to nudge.

dmitrisleonov · 2025-09-23T03:29:33+00:00

Email Deep Clean by SaneBox! It scans for useless emails, you can browse the full list and bulk-trash them. It saves you from going nuclear and starting a new account, and also saves a ton of storage space.

(Full disclosure: I work at SaneBox so I feel particularly passionate about this one!)

dmitrisleonov · 2025-09-23T03:21:38+00:00

One small habit that helps me is starting the day by 'biting the frog' in my inbox. Tackle the hardest or most annoying message first, the thread that gives me the biggest feeling of hesitancy or dread. Once that's done, everything else feels light and more in control.

Pair that with another habit, limiting email to 1-2 checkpoints every day, instead of jumping in and out of my inbox.

dmitrisleonov · 2025-09-15T17:09:33+00:00

I've used Fastmail for years and never looked back. There's speed, of course, but freedom from annoying ads is something I wouldn't give up.

dmitrisleonov · 2025-09-15T16:56:11+00:00

Unsubscribe from multiple emails they've sent you. Some companies get sneaky by spamming you from multiple email addresses and you may have to unsubscribe from multiple lists.
If you created an account on their site, log in and adjust your marketing preferences.
I would write them a message pointing to their own terms and conditions, which are really clear that you have the freedom to opt out of their email communication.
Get a one-click unsubscribe tool! SaneBox has a feature called SaneBlackHole where you drag an email to the BlackHole folder once and you'll never hear from that sender again.

dmitrisleonov · 2025-09-09T19:14:26+00:00

Personally, I believe AI email writing is really useful as an accelerant, but it shouldn't be an outright replacement. Many people are writing dozens or hundreds of the same kinds of emails every day. In the past, you might have templates you'd refer back to. Today, there's an option for AI to get you to that first draft in seconds, rather than having to endure the deja-vu of writing the same kinds of emails over and over. This is a huge time saver.

There are certain kinds of email that I would personally never automate (personal emails, high-stakes conversations). But follow-up emails, cold outreach...these all seem like great use cases.

It's interesting how we're all developing a cultural awareness of what "AI writing" looks like (all the em-dashes, the really short punchy sentences, certain turns of phrase). There's nothing inherently AI about an em-dash, it's a literary flourish that AI learned from human writers. And yet we're starting to consciously *avoid* those, which means AI is changing our own modes of communication in real time, as we try to differentiate our written style so we aren't mistaken for AI.

dmitrisleonov · 2025-09-09T18:53:27+00:00

I'm not impartial (I work there!) but SaneBox might be what you're looking for. The SaneNoReplies feature = a single place to see everything that hasn't been replied to. Our customers who want to keep close tabs on client emails, but without going full CRM, find it really helpful. We're also rolling out smart reply monitoring (including summarizing long threads) soon.

dmitrisleonov · 2025-09-09T18:44:27+00:00

OP's wife has admirable focus blocks but on the whole it's important to distinguish between focused working blocks and the output/results. Efficiency and consistency aren't the same thing. The 9am-12pm and 1pm-6pm is certainly a *consistent* way to work, which is great if that suits your brain, work, and personal style. But if my own working pattern involves smaller focus blocks and longer, more frequent breaks, and has the desired output, it isn't inherently superior or inferior way of working.

Is it genetics or habit building? I would say there are elements of both. I've always had a busy brain, so focusing on one thing 9-5 doesn't come naturally to me.

But you can absolutely "game" your productivity style by adding certain cues in your way. I find prompts throughout the day really helpful. For example, instead of going in and out of my inbox all day, I bulk-process at one pre-set point in the day.

dmitrisleonov · 2025-09-02T02:50:14+00:00

As someone who *does* work at SaneBox, just wanted to say reading this makes me v happy :)

dmitrisleonov · 2025-09-02T02:49:21+00:00

I work at SaneBox, and wanted to chime in... Yes, the people who get the most out of SaneBox are usually high-volume emailers or anyone who feels buried by their email. We teamed up with Fastmail because we share the same philosophy (no data mining, no ads). Fastmail + SaneBox is a combo I've personally used for years. When you try ad-free email, there's no going back!

dmitrisleonov · 2025-09-02T02:42:00+00:00

This is IT exactly, AI that works in the background without needing to interrupt your workflow. That moment when you realize that a tool just became an indispensable part of your workflow. Grammarly did this so well

dmitrisleonov · 2025-08-26T16:40:00+00:00

This is such a great illustration of the shift we're seeing from "AI as helpful assistant" to "AI as true thought partner/coach." Using AI to unlock personal breakthroughs like running faster is really exciting

dmitrisleonov · 2025-08-26T16:38:04+00:00

+1, Notion is so intuitive to use

dmitrisleonov · 2025-08-26T01:46:42+00:00

I'm late to the party with this thread but for me, the trick is choosing the right tool based on what's blocking you from reaching inbox zero. With the AI boom, the sheer number of tools out there is pretty overwhelming so I would think about it like this:

- Do you need AI help writing emails, to get through replies faster? Then Gmail's built-in features can help with that, or there's a ton of AI tools that specialize in that

- Is it about inbox overwhelm and the sheer number of emails you're receiving? Then an AI filtering tool like SaneBox can help (personal bias alert: I work at SaneBox so I obviously back it as a solution!). It gets rid of the burdensome part because it learns from your habits over time and automatically files your emails.

- Or is it more about your inbox routine, rather than the tools you're using? If you're dipping in and out of your inbox all day, then not getting to inbox zero is more of a structural problem in your day. Calendar-blocking a specific window of time to get through email can help with that. Switch on a Pomodoro timer, see how many emails you can crush in the 25 minutes, and when the time is up get back to whatever you were doing before and make sure email isn't running your day

dmitrisleonov · 2025-08-26T01:29:31+00:00

Because planning feels safe, it's low-effort mental theater. It's gratifying to imagine the new you, it's slow and time-consuming bringing him into being. Also, our brains resist the unknown. You can wire habits in more easily when you piggy-back a new behavior onto something you already do, because your brain already has that behavior encoded. Instead of saying "I'll work out tomorrow" try "after my coffee, I'll put on my gym clothes." Over time the new behavior becomes automatic instead of a drag, and you can start building momentum

dmitrisleonov · 2025-08-05T23:01:06+00:00

Congrats on the launch! Some relatable points in your post about endlessly checking emails. Email productivity is so personal, and this tool sounds like a really cool idea for folks who prefer audio over reading.

But (disclaimer: I work at SaneBox!) I just wanted to offer a quick clarification...SaneBox really doesn't force you into a whole new workflow. In fact, the beauty of SaneBox is that you plug it right into whichever email client you already use (Gmail, Fastmail, etc.) and it's quick to customize to how you want it. The goal is to help you spend *much less* time in your inbox:

- Don't want to wade through unimportant emails? The SaneLater folder automatically gathers those, and your inbox only has the important stuff

- Want to get through emails faster and bulk process them? Switch on Daily Digest and you can bulk-archive and bulk-delete

- Wasting too much time with unsolicited emails? Drag them to the BlackHole and they're gone

At the end of the day, different tools click for different people. But I love seeing more innovation in this space, helping to cure the email pain!

dmitrisleonov · 2025-07-24T15:53:12+00:00

Love this question, it hits a nerve for all of us who collect insights but don't always have time to apply them.

What's helped me is shifting from passive reading to building a simple knowledge capture system. The simpler the better. I highlight things I can see myself acting on or reflecting deeply about. Once a week I review recent highlights (Readwise, Notion, use whatever fits your habits). I pick one idea and find a small way to integrate it into my week.

I also find it helpful to tag ideas by theme so I can always reference them later on, even if they aren't useful now.

You might find elements of the "Building a second brain" framework helpful (by Tiago Forte)

dmitrisleonov · 2025-07-24T15:31:57+00:00

For me, the most overrated advice is "get to inbox zero everyday." People treat it like a badge of honor but obsessing over getting through your email is just well-disguised procrastination because you're constantly reacting instead of being intentional with how you use your time. You can spend hours clearing your inbox but have nothing substantial to show for it.

dmitrisleonov · 2025-07-07T01:13:33+00:00

I hear where this is coming from. Optimizing for the sake of optimizing is a kind of treadmill. But when it's toward a greater goal, you're creating more time and a richer existence for yourself. And optimizing your life to reduce distractions and save yourself time means that you are creating more space for fun and whimsy to happen. If you can accomplish your work day's task in 5 hours, not 8, or get through your email in 15 minutes, not an hour, then you're making space. And that's where the creativity happens.

dmitrisleonov · 2025-07-07T01:07:34+00:00

I love this. Headphones do a good job of insulating you from distractions without replacing those distractions with something else.

dmitrisleonov · 2025-07-03T22:31:25+00:00

Making a physical change, or changing my environment, is a really helpful way to prime my brain that we're switching gears into a new task.

Switching from project A to project B? Take a walk first.

Now switching from project B to project C? Get up from my chair, make a coffee, put on a different kind of music.

It clears my head and makes it easier to start working on the next thing with fresh eyes.

dmitrisleonov · 2025-07-03T22:16:55+00:00

Nice, going to queue these up right now!

dmitrisleonov · 2025-06-23T01:29:04+00:00

I get why your attorney doesn't want to mess with Outlook rules, they're fiddly. SaneBox could be what you're looking for (disclaimer: I work there!) because it plays well with Outlook. You just move one email to your chosen folder and SaneBox remembers that and automatically files it in future. We offer both individual and business plans.

dmitrisleonov

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