Gmail is probably one of the most effective productivity tools available. It’s quick, basic, free, unlimited and can work on pretty much every internet enabled device you own. Here are my tips on using Gmail as a super productivity suite.
To-dos and Reminders
I check my email before I go to work and when I get home from work, as well as checking my work email constantly while at work. Because I check fairly regularly I can send myself reminders or actions at any point from work, home or out and about. For example, I’m out shopping and remember that I need to pay the TV license when I get home so I send my self an email from my phone and when I get home, I pick it up on my computer.
Read it Later
If I’m on a train with nothing to do, or chilling on the sofa at home with my iPad, I might read my RSS feeds. I constantly find interesting articles or links that I know I’ll want to check out later on my computer at home, or if work related, on my computer at work. So all I do is mail a link to the article to myself (either my personal account or work account) and pick it up later.
Labels and Filters
Use labels and filters to get the most out of these techniques. I include “rlh” which stands for “Read it Later at Home” in the subject line of an email that includes a link to an article that I’ll want to read later when I’m sitting at my home computer. Using a filter, I can tell Gmail to label any email where the subject line includes “rlh” with Read Later at Home. So when I’m at home, I only have to search for items with that label to show me all the things I’ve sent to myself. Once read, I can delete it. I do the same with work related articles by including “rlw” in the subject line. If it’s a reminder or to-do, I can set more filters to recognise which emails are which.
I know there are apps out there that do this such as Read it Later, Evernote and Delicious etc. But the beauty of using Gmail is that all these items are in one place, but on every device so I can recall this information at any time, even with a weak network signal. Also, “Mail Link” is the most common way to share something. Every app I use that includes sharing features will include a “Mail Link” button, whether it’s Reeder for RSS, Twitter for err… Twitter, Summify, Facebook etc etc. Because email has been around so long, it’s the only fully standardised method of sharing information with yourself.
And the obvious productivity tools in Gmail
Gmail is obviously very good at dealing with email communications. It’s definitely the best web based email client out there, and arguably better than Apple’s Mail and Window’s Outlook, especially now they’ve introduced the preview pane in Labs.
Contacts
Synonymous with email is contacts. Gmail stores all my contacts and makes it incredibly easy for me to retrieve them anywhere on any device.
Tasks
Google Tasks is an extension of Gmail’s browser based app so I’m including it in my list. You can also use it as a stand alone to-do app on mobile devices. It’s really simple and great for ticking tasks off.
Calendar
There is a labs extension to view your calendar in the browser based Gmail app. Again, Google Calendar is effortless and being able to see it from within Gmail is a huge bonus.