Summary: There are tips and apps that can make your Gmail experience better and more productive for you during your busy work days.
Let’s face it, email almost rules our lives. We rely on it for communication, checking our inbox every few minutes to see if a new and hopefully exciting email has arrived yet. We live and work in a world that survives on instant gratification, so learning how to instantly maximize your productivity in your emails is very important. Use these 7 Gmail tricks to improve your email experience.
Alias-Based Filters
Use periods or “+” in your existing username to filter emails from your personal inbox into other categories that you set up. This is a great thing to do when signing up for things like newsletters. Be sure to go to your email settings so that the emails are redirected to the correct inbox.
Canned Responses
Just like having a signature helps save time, having saved responses that you use often will increase productivity. Click the gear icon, go to “labs” and scroll down to “canned responses,” then click “enable.” Now when you start a new message, click the arrow in the lower right of the compose new message window to view your “canned responses.” Select “new canned response” and save your message.
Undo Send
I’m guessing you have accidentally hit send before you were done writing an email or suddenly remember something you wanted to add to the email. Google labs lets you recall an email within a few seconds after hitting send. To enable it, click the gear icon in the upper-right corner of Gmail. Click “labs,” locate “undo send” select “enable,” and hit “save changes.” Now go to “general,” locate “undo send,” and toggle the time limit for canceling emails. Save the changes.
Custom Keyboard Shortcuts
This feature is convenient because you can customize the keyboard shortcuts according to your preferences. Go to “labs,” click “custom keyboard shortcuts,” select “enable,” go back to “settings” and select the “custom keyboard shortcuts” map. Now create your own shortcuts that for things such as composing a new message, replying in a new window, or reporting spam.
Link Tasks to Emails
When an email requires an action, select “more” from the menu in reading view. On the drop-down list, select “add to tasks.” Here you can edit your to-do list and set deadlines.
Verify Authenticate Senders
If you use eBay or PayPal a lot then you may want to prevent spam and identity theft. You can do this by enabling the authentication icon for verified senders. Go to “labs” and click “authentication icon for verified senders.” Now there will be an icon next to a sender’s name letting you know the email you received is real.
FollowUp
This app will let you know when someone has opened your email, reminding you to follow-up. You can use this for everything from work emails to RSVPs to parties.
Read these other articles to help you get through the workday:
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