How To Leverage Your Inbox To Stay Informed

In the age of the 24-hour news cycle, staying informed can seem close to impossible. One of my favorite professors in college advised his students to read the news for two hours each day to stay on top of things. I always chuckled a little bit at his advice, wondering how he was able to make that sort of time. 

Unless you’re working in a role that requires you to spend a lot of time reading the news, you probably need to find a way to work smarter, not harder, to stay informed. I certainly needed to do so, and so I started leveraging my email inbox. 

How many times a day do you check your email? Probably a few times too many. We’re slammed with seemingly endless emails all day long, so wouldn’t it make sense to get a few that actually help us stay on top of things?

Yes, you could probably scroll through social media and get some headlines. But why not head to one place and get more than mere headlines? Subscribing to a few good newsletters can help keep you on top of the day’s reporting and events.

I don’t take subscribing to digital newsletters lightly. As an avid adherent to inbox zero (anyone else?), adding something else to the mass of digital mail I receive each day is cringeworthy. But by subscribing to a few key newsletters, I am able to easily stay informed. 

Need a couple of ideas? Here are three of my favorites:

Ballotpedia’s Daily Brew
If you want to be updated on the main political stories of the day in the time it takes you to drink your morning cup of coffee, this newsletter is for you. Researched, unbiased, and factual, you’ll read about the latest in local, state, or federal politics. Three key ideas are summarized in each newsletter, with links to longer articles if your coffee has actually kicked in and allowed you to read more than a few sentences at a time. 

Robinhood’s Snacks
As a self-described financial junkie, this newsletter is GOLD. And, you can have it delivered once a week instead of daily – even better. Subscribe to this newsletter for witty updates on what is happening in the world of financial markets. As we weather trade wars and tariffs, the information becomes even more intriguing.

The Hill’s Morning Report
While this newsletter is more than a little politically biased, it still does a great job of capturing everything that is going down in the world of politics and policy (plus international news) each day. Want to know what Congress has planned for the day? Or what President Trump’s public schedule will be? Or about the uprising in a foreign country? Click subscribe. 

Even the people with the busiest of schedules can stay on top of things by leveraging their email inboxes. A few key subscriptions, and you’ll know exactly what topic you need to give your opinion about on Twitter. (Or not – maybe just tweet an inspirational quote and call it a day?)