Out On the Limb

I happen to think Gmail is the best email client on the face of the earth. I really don’t know how some people can bare to use Hotmail, Yahoo, or AOL for their email… and the worst? Using your ISP’s email service. UGH. So, I’d like to address the reasons why Gmail is superior to all others as well as offer a few tips to those Gmail users that aren’t using it to it’s full potential.

First, here… a screenshot of my inbox.

1. We’ll begin with one of my most favoritest features in Gmail, and a relatively new one. Released earlier this year, Multiple Inboxes, is one of the most convenient tools for anyone with more than one email address. Now, most email clients will let you forward an email address and receive forwarded messages, but what other email clients lets you have a special “inbox” for different email addresses… as well as sent mail, a certain label, sender, etc.? By activating Multiple Inboxes in your Gmail Labs section, you’ll be able to organize up to five separate boxes to your liking. Tired of missing important emails from a work address? Give it it’s own inbox and never miss a conversation again.
2. Next, I’d like to highlight the simplicity of using labels. I don’t know about you, but I get a lot of email these days. From emaillists, social network updates, bank updates, shopping, and more… sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference when everything looks the same. What’s even harder is finding an email with important information weeks or months after you received it. Oh? What’s that Gmail? You’ve given me an easy way to label messages? Whammy. With labels, I can color coat certain types of email so they are easy to locate later and click on that label and see only those emails. Easily label something by dragging the label from the left column to the message, and BLAM-O!, labeled. And what’s even better, you ask? Go to number 3.
3. Filters!!! I know you’re probably asking yourself… “so I have to label every freakin’ email? Yeah, right. My time is too valuable for such menial tasks. I’ll let my assistant do the labeling.” Yes, I’ll admit it… I can be lazy sometimes too. And that’s where filters come in. Found in your settings, filters will let you automatically apply a label, mark as read, skip inbox, delete, star, and most anything else you can think of to emails from certain addresses, to certain addresses, with a specific word or phrase in the subject, etc… Most of my labels are already labeled before I even read them, so if I’m just checking for something specific, it’s there, already color-coated and ready to be read, marked as read, or whatever else I want to do with it. Power, I has it.
4. Sometimes I forget what day it is. I may forget where I need to be. But one thing I don’t forget is to check my email. So, how do I solve this problem? Google Calendars. But I don’t stop there. I put a miniature Google Cal right beside my inbox!!! Now all of my appointments, schedules, reminders, and holidays are in front of my face many times a day. Studies have shown that this increases my chances of remembering an engagement by 78%. Intense? Indeed.
5. What about when all I really have to say is “Ok, See you at 7.” or “No, that wasn’t my picture on the side of a bus.”? Sometimes, a quick reply is too much. Or maybe I need a few questions answered and a string of emails isn’t the best way to talk. Who do I call? Google Chat. If my email recipient is logged in, I can just shoot them a message in Chat and have a quick instant message exchange. Even if you’re in the middle of an email thread you can reply via chat and the transcript of the exchange will show up in the email thread. Have a distant lover? Why not video chat to see their smiling face instead of sending a long and sad email. Set a status so people don’t bother you, hide until someone you like is online, and many other features available with your everyday IM client.
6. Tasks. Have a few things that need to get done? Enable Tasks your labs and a little popup in the corner will let you manage them, give them a deadline, put them on your calendar, and have the satisfaction of checking it off once you’ve completely your task.

There’s still much more but I thought a number for each one of these may be too much. Not to mention the power of the most powerful search engine on the planet. Just make sure you head over to the Gmail Labs section and enable a few things that may make life a little easier. Some of my favorites:

• Attachment Reminder
• Email “Beer Goggles” (for those late night, incomprehensible emails that may need to wait til the morning)
• Picture and Video previews
• Custom Label Colors
• Undo Send (for that “Doh! Forgot something!” feeling)
• Canned Responses

So, isn’t it time to let Gmail change your life? And for those other Gmail lovers out there, what’s your favorite feature? What did I miss?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 11:02 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.