Labels are the answer to Gmail's folder conundrum. Enabling the following lab functions in Gmail further expands the power of the label.
There are items on the Gmail POWER USER list of Gmail lab functions which I enabled in my own account to help manange email using labels. While the some of these items are self explanatory there are others that didn't jump out at me as something I needed. Here are two that can become great tools to managing your email if you choose to use them.
Right-side Labels: With labels on the right-side you are able to view labels and email in boxes without scrolling.
Hide Unread Counts: This allows me to see how many unread messages reside with a label. For example if I have used the tag @call or _Call and there are 3 unread messages it gives me a constant reminder of what needs to be done. Make sure you keep your emails marked as unread for an accurate count.
These features enabled in Gmail can be applied to various organizational systems. The following video from FunWithButter.com explains how to use labels with the popular GTD method (Getting Things Done).
Google is always adding and developing the services it offers for free. Sometimes I joke they are reading my emails. One day I may mention, "Gee, I would like folders for that ..." and a couple weeks later, or a couple days in some cases my feature appears. Call it selective attention, hundredth monkey effect or just the natural development of software.
As I made my transition from using Outlook to only Gmail and Gmail for your domain I bemoaned the loss of adding a task and attaching the referenced email. Loved that. Needed that.
The latest addition to Google Labs is Tasks. Now located below your "Contacts" link on the left margin. This from Google:
We put your tasks in the same kind of window as chats, so they're visible while you're scanning your inbox, reading mail, or searching (and in Settings, too!). Just pop your list out into a new window to use Tasks outside of Gmail.
To enable Tasks, go to Settings, click the Labs tab (or just click here if you're signed in). Select "Enable" next to "Tasks" and then click "Save Changes" at the bottom. Then, after Gmail refreshes, on the left under the "Contacts" link, you'll see a "Tasks" link. Just click it to get started.
Tasks will allow you to create a 'to do' list right within Gmail.
Tasks can be generated straight from an email.
Open your email, decide you need to add this task, from the "More Actions" drop down menu now you may select "Add to Tasks". The email will be added to your Task list with the subject line listed in your queue of things to do.
If you have your shortcuts enabled in Labs you can do this with Control + t, also:
Tasks can be prioritized. Tasks allows you to break down a project into manageable steps.
The Task window can pop-out and become a whole new window.
So while Google is possibly listening (and when aren't they) here is my wish list for Tasks:
1. An iPhone application to see and use my Tasks list on the go
2. Ability to combine Tasks lists from other gmail accounts into one master list
3. Add due dates for Tasks to Google Calendar
I enjoy reading productivity and organization books and blogs. This does not mean I always take the advice, but I do have a curiosity about how other people get things done. We all experience different demands, there is no single solution for any of us. Productivity gurus and email management specialist recommend using labels and not a file based system. Files are cumbersome and often take more energy and effort to maintain, while labeling is efficient and does not impede work flow.
What I want to share with you is the change I have made within my gmail account. I was terribly resistant to this change because as my post title confesses ... I am a chronic filer. Filing is what I know. Even though I had gmail, a web-based solution, I was still using Outlook to sort and file email.
Trusting my email to a label based system using gmail's search function seemed scary but I am finding it to be far superior. I have shed my Outlook program and am working only within the gmail interface.
What I am finding is that the opportunity to file an email in two different categories is a great asset. How often have you wanted an email in more than one place as a reference or a reminder? Labels give me an opportunity to "file" in multiple reference positions. "To Dos" and "Projects" categories can collect reference emails and be available with a click of the label, using the underscore and other unique characters in your labels enables you to separate these items from other labels and keep them promenent in your label list.
I will be using the search function in my gmail, labels will replace folders and my inbox will be my sorting area. Here is a video which gave me the inspiration for my current system and I must share that I am really pleased with the change and only wish I had done it sooner.
Yesterday my associate posted about Google Goggles. He explained how to enable the tool. I actually prepared my thoughts for this post on Thursday and then Keith beat me to it, but since it is Saturday morning, I thought I would weigh in on this subject anyway.
Wednesday evening I was up late and to tell the truth I don't know if I learned of Google's Goggles on a television ad or on a cable news story. Based on this admission I probably need a pair of Google's Goggles. Here is the scoop: Google operates what they refer to as Gmail labs. Google has a number of techies that come up with interesting ideas and if the idea has some merit they throw it out there for their Gmail customers to "try out" in a Beta version. According to Goggles' developer, Jon Perlow, "When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you are really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you are in the right state of mind?"
OK, we have probably all sent out emails late at night when we are tired, overworked, enraged about life, but at the same time we have probably all been recipients of these types of emails. These late night communications provide interesting entertainment, not to mention insight into our emailing buddies.
Why do people send emails late at night or in the wee hours of the morning? Certainly it is not always a case of too many drinks as some commentators have stated. My experience is that many people do tend to work late at night. It is the quietest time with children safely in bed, co-workers hopefully not chatting incessantly, the pets not running wild, and the phone is quiet. When I worked as a business analyst and project manager for Mercury Insurance Services, we were expected to work from home after-hours. Yes, we were paid for 40 hours, but were told in no uncertain terms that if we had a deliverable deadline we must work at home. Most nights I would arrive home from the office around 6:00PM, dutifully make the family dinner, clean up the kitchen, throw a load of laundry in the washing machine, and then quietly go into my home office and fire-up the laptop. It was not unusual for me to work until 1:00am or even 2:00am writing technical documents. Very often I would email these documents to my fellow team members in the middle of the night. Why? Well, emailing the document gave me a sense of completing a task, as well as a feeling of starting the next work day 5 hours later with a cleaner slate. But imagine my shock when after sending the late night email many of my co-workers would respond immediately with an email that usually contained this phrase: "You're still up, too?" As a by-product, this practice allowed us the opportunity to document the number of hours we were really spending on a project! Just for the record, this project began in January 2003 and was to be completed in three years. It is now October 2008 and the project is still going strong. So much for project management.
While Google's Goggles is very clever, doesn't it really imply that we are not mature enough to reasonably manage our email etiquette? People's entire careers and companies have imploded because of email records. So why aren't we more careful about the content of our emails? Who the heck knows, but here is rule I try to follow. Years ago I reported directly to the president of a bank, Willard (Bill) Bromage. Our means of communicating with peers, subordinates and superiors was to write a memo. One day I handed him a copy of a memo I proposed to send to the struggling IT department. He read the memo and advised: "Save this document for three days. Keep it here on your desk. In three days re-read your document. If, at that time, you still feel committed to your written word, then by all means mail it."
Good advice, don't you think? The difference between Bill Bromage's advice and Google's Jon Perlow's "math test" is that Bill wanted you to consider the content of your communication, Perlow is assuming that if you can solve in 45 seconds three or four simple math equations (and I do mean simple) then you must be of sound enough mind to communicate in wee hours of the morning. In fact, Jon Perlow states in the Gmail "settings" for Google Goggles: "Google strives to make the world's information useful. Mail you send late night on the weekends may be useful but you may regret it the next morning. Solve some simple math problems and you're good to go. Otherwise, get a good night's sleep and try again in the morning. After enabling this feature, you can adjust the schedule in the "General" settings page." Interestingly Bromage had a three day rule, while Perlow has a three math problem solving rule.
A word of caution: try never to ASSUME. Happy Saturday!
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