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Gmail is one of the most popular email services around, and if you use the web-based email client as your primary email app too then you'll undoubtedly benefit from these three simple tips to boost productivity. No, they won't end the email onslaught and 100 new email messages a day that we all suffer from, but they will help you get in and out of your inbox quicker in several completely different ways, and that's a big help.
1) Use Drag & Drop for Quick Attachments
Did you know you can drag and drop anything into a Compose window and it'll automatically attach itself to that email? Just as if the web-based Gmail client was a desktop app, drag & drop attachments are supported, and this tip alone will boost your productivity by making it easier and faster to attach files. There's not much to it:
- Open a new Mail composition or reply to an existing message
- Drag a file from the Desktop or Finder into the Gmail browser window to create an attachment
A little progress bar appears in the Gmail composition window as the file uploads as an attachment, when finished send it off like anything else. Standard file attachment size rules will apply.
2) Set Gmail as the Default Email Client
This will cause Gmail to launch in your default web browser, and it carries addresses and subjects forward from email links to the browser just like it would if Mail or another app is the email client. The exact process to set this up is slightly different per web browser, here's the instructions for Chrome:
- Launch Chrome with a new browser window
- Open Chrome Javascript console by using the keyboard shortcut Command+Option+J and then pasting the following text:
navigator.registerProtocolHandler("mailto", "https://mail.google.com/mail/?extsrc=mailto&url=%s","Gmail"); - Accept the confirmation and you're done
If you don't use Chrome as your primary web browser, here's how to get it working in Opera, Firefox, and Safari too.
3) Add a "Sent from my iPhone" Signature
Say what? Why on earth would you want that Sent from my iPhone signature on all of your desktop emails too? This may sound weird strange at first, but hear me out: that little iPhone signature is synonymous with brevity, and as a result, nobody expects a lengthy reply from anyone on a mobile device. This also means that short emails don't come across as rude or inappropriately brief, and in return you can send shorter emails that get straight to the point. Here's how to add a signature in Gmail:
- Open Gmail and click the Gear icon in the upper right corner and choose "Settings
- Scroll down to "Signature" and select the email address to change, then just type in the familiar "Sent from my iPhone" signature
- Continue to scroll down and choose "Save Changes"
If you think this last tip is goofy, try it out for a week and allow yourself the freedom to just crank out quick one sentence replies rather than paragraphs and paragraphs. If you're not spending significantly less time replying to and writing emails, I'd be surprised. While we're on the topic, f you disabled it on your iPhone at some point, I would highly recommend re-enabling it.
Got any other worthwhile tips to boost your email productivity? Let us know!
