Triage your LinkedIn DMs
Open your starred conversations to see who needs a reply.
I research who’s messaging you before I sort the thread. People you’ve emailed or met stay in Focused. I move irrelevant outreach from others to Other and star the conversations that need your reply.
See what needs you, right in LinkedIn.
Taylor asked about working together.
They described a relevant project and asked whether you have availability next month.
An agency offered lead-generation services.
You haven’t emailed or met the sender, and the pitch is for a service you’ve said you aren’t looking for.
I research the person first.
I look at who they are and check your sent emails and past meetings for an existing relationship.
Have you emailed or met?
If you’ve sent them an email or had a meeting with them, their thread stays in Focused, regardless of what the message says.
Someone new?
I consider who they are, what they’re asking and your interests. Irrelevant outreach moves to Other, where you can still find it.
Does it need your reply?
I star valid outreach that needs a response. Relevant conversations that don’t need an answer stay in Focused without a star.
You define what’s relevant.
For people you haven’t emailed or met, I ask which kinds of outreach you want to see and which you’d rather move to Other.
“Are you open to hearing about new roles, or should recruiting outreach go to Other?”
The star stays until you reply.
Once you’ve responded, I remove the star. Your starred conversations stay focused on the people still waiting to hear from you.