The Email Game adds more features to turn Gmail overload into light work

Email. The bane of our day. But for Baydin software, it’s lifeblood. The company, which is responsible for the brilliant Gmail and Outlook plugin called Boomerang, makes its living by coming up with unique ways to work with and manage your email, thus making your life easier.

When Baydin first launched The Email Game, I was impressed by the idea but the app itself lacked some pretty important functionality. The idea is that, by turning the task of email management into a rewarded, gamified system, you’re more likely to handle inbox overload rather than just letting it continue. Baydin accomplished this by adding a points system, feedback icons and social sharing.

You simply log in with your email address (it works for both Gmail and Google Apps accounts) and then you see a list of your emails as you would any other time. For each email that you interact with, be that by replying, deleting or scheduling via Boomerang for a later return, you’re awarded points. Choose to not handle an email and you’ll lose some of them. At the end you can choose to share your score via Twitter for personal bragging rights. Oh, and each email that you open has a timer attached, requiring you to make a decision instead of simply staring at it.

With the newest update to The Email Game, Baydin has added the features that I really thought were lacking previously. Need to schedule a meeting or a reminder? Google Calendar integration will let you do that, even proposing time slots based upon the context of the email (a trick that Baydin brought over from Boomerang). There are templates and a tweaked “decision engine”, as well as a new feedback system as well.

The Email Game isn’t meant to be your every-time system. In fact, it works best when you use it at the beginning or end of your day, after email has had a chance to get to the point of nearly-overwhelming. But with email bankruptcy affecting nearly everyone these days, the ability to manage your inbox, schedule meetings and to do so quickly is vital. For that, The Email Game is positively invaluable.

Want to get to inbox zero every day? Here’s a lifehack to help you do just that.