5 Productivity (or Social Life) Boosting Gmail Features
April 26th, 2010 Jamie
Since you now all know that I’m a geek, it shouldn’t surprise you that I’ve scrolled through and checked out all the optional features found in Google Labs (that little green beaker in the top right corner of your screen) in the darling of all webmail, Gmail. It’s time to click on that bright green icon (
) and see what you’ve been missing–these 5 features are a must have for Gmailing college students.
Mail Goggles
Ever get home late–really late–and suddenly decide it’s a great time to send an email to your ex? Oops. Mail goggles is a ridiculous (but, honestly, probably pretty effective) way to make yourself think before you send. You set up your schedule to determine when it goes into effect (like maybe just for emails sent between midnight at 6am, prime returning-from-a-party times), and during those hours you have to solve three basic math problems before your mail will send. If you’re having trouble with the email-equivalent of drunk dialing, this one’s for you.
Undo Send!!!
Already hit send, huh? If you have this feature enabled, it’s not too late to take back that snarky remark about your prof–which you accidentally sent to the whole class. (Curse you, Reply All!) With Undo Send, you have a couple of seconds after your mail is marked “sent” to, well, Undo!!!
Text Messaging (SMS) in Chat
Want to text your BFF without having to search for your cell? (Or need a quick way to text yourself when your phone gets lost in piles of laundry?) Text messaging from Gchat lets you click on your friend’s name, open a chat window, and if he or she is offline, send a quick message right to their phone.
Mark As Read Button
Have you noticed how much work it is to mark an email as “Read” in Gmail? It takes a silly number of steps. The Mark As Read feature puts a button right beside your Delete button so you can quickly manage your mail. So simple, but such a big timesaver.
Google Docs Gadget
Access your most recent documents right from Gmail with a click of a button. A list of your 5 most recent docs appears on the left side of your inbox so you can go from reading your prof’s thoughts on your essay to editing it in one simple step.
Any of these features (or others) make your hit or miss list? Are you using different webmail that you love? Fill in your fellow students in the comments!
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Related Posts
Entry Filed under: productivity
Loading ...
1 Comment Add your own
1. Brittany | July 24th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Came across this blog via ericaleexo.com and I’m enjoying it very much. I never knew about Gmail’s mail goggles; what an interesting tool!
I’m very fond of the “undo” feature! I was wondering when email clients would develop this.
Now gmail has a little reminder if you’ve written “attached” within your text but didn’t attach anything. It’s saved my butt many a time!
Nice blog, keep up the good work.
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed