When setting up a new Gmail account, here are some things I do to make it bearable. It doesn’t really matter what you use the account for, but it will make you receive less stupid emails and clear the inbox faster.
In Settings:
- Enable Send & Archive (for clearing the inbox of done emails)
- Enable Undo Send (because we all typ too fast)
- Turn on Keyboard Shortcuts (seriously. [ and ] to archive and next; j and k for prev and next, e for archive, r for reply, a for reply all, c for compose, etc.)
- Pick a different theme for all accounts, so you know where you are
in Labs:
- Enable Auto-Advance (so you don’t get kicked back to your inbox after sending an email)
- Enable Mark as Read button (so you can clear out the inbox fast with search and by selecting individual conversations)
- Enable Quote Selected Text (surprisingly useful)
Set up Filters:
- For your mailing lists: Filter by “has the words: list:”, check auto archive, and apply a label. You will see all list convos on the side bar.
- For newsletters: Same with “has the words: unsubscribe”
- Set up a email+1@gmail.com (or whatever + you want to use) to identify by sender. Gmail will ignore anything +X, so you can sign up for newsletters, services, etc. with the addendum and immediately filter it.
I’ve used this setup for a long time, and it ALWAYS clears out the inbox and lets me focus on what is important.
To my friend who asked about it: I hope this will work for you 🙂 And yes, it works in Google Apps accounts, too.
via Tumblr http://pmoe.de/post/125420650610