Gmail
I use Thunderbird for our Office email, but the staff asked me to do a session on using Gmail. Most of them have thousands of emails in their inbox and are fairly lost. I have to say, Gmail has improved a lot over the years, so that it's really hard to match. It's also highly customizable though with all of that it's hard to get it to respect traditional email standards
SCREEN LAYOUT CHOICES:
#^
https://youtu.be/hrhOZrP1ZN0
Take
aways:
There are many choices; you don't have to stay with a choice, but can experiment and see what works best for you.
Note: the three line trigram at top-left corner of GMAIL expands or collapses the mail folder column at left. If it's in a collapsed state, moving the mouse to the left side makes the mail folder column appear temporarily. This can save space.
FILTERS AND LABELS
https://youtu.be/CuTJRvjYzlQ
It's extremely worthwhile to learn how to use filters and labels.
Take aways:
- Labels are an easy way to make emails stand out.
- Filters can get emails you don't want to see out of your inbox - either for deletion or putting them in folders. But you can do much more with filters.
One way to set up labels is to go through the filters dialogue, and just choose under the filter to add a label.[/list]Note: If you really don't want to see emails from a list, such as advertisements ever again, it's better to look for an "unsubscribe" button at the bottom of the email message.
SETTINGS
#^
https://youtu.be/g1fKhdsBig8
You have "Quick Settings" under the Cog / Galgal Shana'im icon at top.
You have advanced settings under "See all settings" under Quick Settings.
Take-aways:
There are many useful settings so you can set things up exactly as you like them.
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
They need to be turned on in All Settings, halfway down page, "Keyboard Shortcuts On".
Remember to Save Changes, at bottom of screen.
Common ones:
- e archives an email.
- # deletes an email
- r reply to sender
- a reply all
- c write a new message
- s add/remove a star
- l open "label as" menu
- ; expand all emails in a "conversation"
- z undo the last action
WORKFLOW
Here's a popular workflow based on the GTD (Getting Things Done) method[list=1][
]First, archive or delete all old emails that you are not going to deal with.]You probably aren't ever going to look at the emails that don't fit on your screen.[
]Every message that you deal with in 2 minutes, handle right away (then archive or delete).[[]What you need to deal with, or can do something about, today, add a label : "TODAY" .[
]What you need to do, but won't do today, add a label : "ACTION".[]What you have passed on to somebody for a response (or some action), add a label :"AWAITING".[
]When something is finished, remove the labels and archive (or delete).[]REVIEW (every day) all new emails, then emails labeled "TODAY", "ACTION" and "AWAITING". Rearrange them as necessary.
Don't leave anything stuck in your inbox.There's a real-world demonstration of this system, with slight variations, here:
https://youtu.be/rPoJuhnLlXg
Some people use also a "Someday" label, or a label for "For Reference", where an email like THIS one might go.
More on Paul Allen's GTD method (which isn't intended only for email) : #^
https://youtu.be/JhmZhTXN4as
Links blog
✭ No-kill, lab-grown meat to go on sale for first time | Meat industry | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/02/no-kill-lab-grown-meat-to-go-on-sale-f…
"The cells used to start the process came from a cell bank and did not require the slaughter of a chicken because cells can be taken from biopsies of live animals. The nutrients supplied to the growing cells were all from plants."
✭ Namibia to auction 170 wild elephants, saying rising numbers threaten people | Namibia | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/03/namibia-to-auction-170-wild-elephants-saying…
"The arid southern African nation also auctioned 1,000 animals from national parks, including 500 buffalos in 2019 as it faced the worst drought in a century."
✭ All change: India's railways bring back tea in clay cups in bid to banish plastics | Global development
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/03/all-change-indias-railways-brin…
“Kulhads will not only help reduce the use of toxic plastic and save the environment, they will give employment and income to hundreds of thousands of potters,” said Goyal, making the announcement. He said he remembered how tea in kulhads used to taste better."
Sounds like another nice idea...
