Delegation is an act of faith. When I first started working with my EA, I couldn't let go of email. It felt too personal, too nuanced. How could anyone else possibly know which messages mattered?

But I was drowning. Six hundred emails a day. Weekends consumed by inbox archaeology. The constant anxiety of missing something important buried under a mountain of newsletters, cold pitches, and cc'd threads that had nothing to do with me.

The breakthrough came when I realized: my inbox wasn't a sacred space requiring my personal attention. It was a river of requests, and I needed someone to help me build a dam with the right-sized holes.

My EA, Marcus, now handles roughly 85% of my incoming email. He responds to meeting requests, filters out noise, drafts replies in my voice, and escalates only what truly requires my brain. The first week felt terrifying. By the third week, I wondered why I'd waited so long.

The key is establishing what I call the "escalation matrix." Not every email deserves the same treatment. Board members and direct reports bypass all filters. Recruiters and vendors get templated responses. Newsletters are batched for weekend reading or ruthlessly unsubscribed.

Marcus learned my voice within two weeks. He studied my sent folder, noticed my patterns, understood when I'm curt versus warm. Now his drafts are indistinguishable from my own writing. I review and approve with a single keystroke.

The real magic happens with what I call "proactive email management." Marcus doesn't just react to incoming messages. He follows up on threads I've forgotten, reminds me about promises I made, and nudges me when someone important hasn't responded.