Overcoming Content Hoarding: Leveraging AI to Find Balance
In Just One Day!
If you're anything like me, your inbox is a graveyard of unread newsletters, promotions, and updates. Every morning, I’d open my email, see the overwhelming number of unread messages, and promptly close it again. I was drowning in a sea of content, and it was starting to feel like a full-blown addiction. That’s when I decided to fight back—with the help of AI.
Here’s how I built Briefly, an AI-powered system that helped me declutter my inbox, organize my newsletters, and finally take control of my content consumption. And the best part? I built the first version in just one day.
The Problem: Content Overload
I love staying informed, but my inbox has become a black hole. I was subscribed to dozens of newsletters, from tech updates to finance tips, and couldn’t keep up. The more I ignored them, the more they piled up. It wasn’t just emails—it was a symptom of a larger issue: content hoarding.
When I finally found the time to catch up, I’d spend hours reading dozens of articles in one sitting. However, during one of these marathon sessions, it struck me that many of the tech newsletters I subscribed to shared the same articles. I was wasting time reading the same content over and over again.
I realized I needed a system to:
Automatically sort and categorize my newsletters.
Remove duplicates and irrelevant content.
Deliver a curated feed of the most important updates.
The Solution: Briefly (Version 1)
I have been using LLM a lot recently. So I decided to build Briefly, an AI-powered tool that would process my emails, organize them, and present them in a clean, easy-to-read feed. Here’s how I did it in just one day:
1. The AI Agent: My Email Assistant
The first step was creating a Python agent to handle my emails. This agent:
Fetches Emails: Using the Gmail API, it accesses my inbox every morning.
Deduplicates Content: It uses hashing techniques to identify and remove duplicate emails.
Categorizes Newsletters: It sorts emails into categories like Tech, Finance, and Health.
This agent became my personal email assistant, tirelessly working behind the scenes to declutter my inbox.
I built the agent with Pydantic AI: a Python agent framework designed to make it less painful to build production-grade applications with Generative AI built by the team behind Pydantic.
It was a pleasant experience. The framework helped me focus on the core logic using tools I am already familiar with.
2. The Feed: A Simple Web App
For the first version, I built a server-rendered web app using FastAPI. It’s not fancy, but it gets the job done. The app:
Fetches newsletters from the database.
Displays them in a simple, no-frills feed.
Allows me to see my curated newsletters in one place.
I spent most of my time fighting the OAuth2 specification to authenticate with the Gmail API. It was a headache, but I finally got it working!
Of course, the UI is AI-generated!
3. The Database: Turso
I needed a fast, scalable, and easy-to-use database to store the processed articles. That’s where Turso came in. Turso is a serverless, globally distributed SQLite database that allowed me to:
Store all my newsletters in one place.
Access them quickly, no matter where I was.
Scale effortlessly as my data grew.
With Turso, I had a reliable foundation for my system.
The Results (So Far)
Even in its early stages, Briefly has already made a difference. Every morning, I wake up to a curated feed of the most important newsletters, neatly organized and free of duplicates. I no longer feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content—instead, I feel in control.
Here’s what Briefly has done for me so far:
Saved Time: No more sifting through hundreds of emails.
Reduced Stress: A clean inbox is a happy inbox.
Improved Focus: I can now focus on the content that matters most.
What’s Next?
This is just the first version of Briefly, and I’m excited to keep improving it. Here’s what I’m planning next:
A Full-Fledged Nuxt 3 Web App:
I’ll replace the FastAPI feed with a modern, responsive Nuxt 3 app.
This will include better UI/UX, search, and filtering features.
Content management
Summarization:
- Use AI to summarize long newsletters into bite-sized updates.
Personalization:
- Learn my preferences and prioritize the content I care about.
Open-Sourcing Briefly
As I continue to improve Briefly, I plan to open-source future versions. My goal is to make it accessible to others who might be facing the same challenges with content overload. By sharing the code, I hope to:
Encourage collaboration and innovation.
Help others learn from my approach (and mistakes!).
Build a community around tools that make our digital lives easier.
Stay tuned for updates, and feel free to reach out if you’re interested in contributing or just want to chat about AI, productivity, or battling inbox chaos!
I might even turn it into a platform to allow others to use it without coding and hosting it themselves.
Lessons Learned
Building Briefly taught me a few valuable lessons:
Start Small: You don’t need a perfect product on day one. A simple prototype can already make a big difference.
OAuth2 is Tricky: Most of my time was spent wrestling with OAuth2 authentication. If you’re working with APIs, be prepared for some frustration!
AI is a Game-Changer: Even a basic AI agent can solve real-world problems in ways that feel almost magical.
Final Thoughts
Content hoarding is a modern problem, but it’s not insurmountable. With a little creativity and the power of AI, I was able to take control of my inbox and reclaim my time—all in just one day. If you’re struggling with content overload, I encourage you to explore how technology can help. Who knows? You might just build the next Briefly.
What about you? Have you ever used AI to solve a personal problem? Let me know in the comments!
