The short answer: the two directions work differently. The replies you owe are a standing list: alfred_ keeps them on Home and leads your morning brief with them until you answer. What other people owe you is found when you ask (“who am I waiting on?”) or every Monday with the ready-made Chase what I’m owed routine. For one kind of thing, such as unsigned change orders or missing tax documents, write your own routine in a sentence. Nothing is sent to anyone until you approve it.
Two lists, two jobs
A reply you owe. Someone asked you for something and you haven’t answered. These slip because you read them, meant to answer, and the inbox moved on.
A reply you’re owed. You asked someone for something and they haven’t answered. These slip because, from the inbox’s point of view, nothing happened. There is no new email to remind you.
Most trackers handle one well and the other badly. A flag or star catches the first if you remember to set it. A “Waiting” label catches the second if you remember to apply it every time you hit send.
The replies you owe: kept for you
alfred_ reads each email as it arrives. When a person writes to you, you haven’t answered, and a full working day has passed, it reads the thread and keeps it if an answer is actually expected: a question, a decision, a document. Newsletters, receipts and no-reply mail don’t count.
- Where you see it: the list on Home, and the “What needs you” section that leads your morning brief.
- When it leaves: when you reply, when you mark it done, or after 21 days with nothing new.
- Weekends: working time pauses from Friday at 6 PM to Monday at 9 AM, so Friday evening mail isn’t late by Saturday.
Details are in Follow-up tracking.
What other people owe you: found when you ask
Three ways, from lightest to most specific:
- Ask. “Who am I waiting on?”, “has Acme replied about the proposal?”, or “which vendors haven’t confirmed Saturday?” by text or in the app. alfred_ checks what you sent and what came back.
- Turn on a ready-made routine. Chase what I’m owed runs every Monday at 8 AM: it reads what you sent in the last week and lists what you asked people to do, send, review, confirm, decide or pay that is still outstanding, oldest first, each with a short follow-up ready. Proposals waiting on a decision does the same for quotes and proposals over 60 days. See Ready-made routines.
- Write your own. “Every Friday at noon, email me which contractors haven’t sent this week’s timesheet.” It runs on the day you choose and lists only what is still missing. See Make your own.
When you want to follow up, ask for the nudge. alfred_ writes it in the thread and shows it to you; it goes when you approve it.
Guides for the things people chase
Each of these walks through one list: the sentence, what comes back, and where it stops.
- Contractors: change orders a client hasn’t signed
- Accounting firms: tax clients who haven’t sent their documents
- Real estate: buyers who haven’t sent a pre-approval letter
- Insurance: renewal quotes clients haven’t decided on
- Architecture firms: consultants who still owe drawings
- Staffing: contractors who haven’t sent this week’s timesheet
- Events: vendors who haven’t confirmed for Saturday
- Interior designers: clients who haven’t picked their finishes
- Anyone: what you promised people this week, a client’s 9 PM email, answered first thing, a complaint from corporate, answered the same day
The honest caveat
alfred_ reads the inboxes you connect, up to six Gmail, Outlook and IMAP accounts, and nothing else. A request sent from a colleague’s mailbox is on their list, not yours, and something answered by phone or inside another tool looks open until someone says so in the thread. It judges each thread from what it says, so check the first few lists against what you know. The ready-made Chase what I’m owed looks back one week; for longer, ask or write your own routine. It reports; it doesn’t chase. alfred_ is a paid product, and routines run on the credits your plan includes; plans are on the pricing page.
