To call email a big part of our lives is an understatement—a huge one. Emailing has transformed what used to take months into a process that now only takes a matter of seconds. It has connected us to every corner of the globe and makes communicating with people all over the world as simple as flipping a switch.
At the top of the most commonly-used email providers is Gmail, Google’s approach to email and chat. It allows us to send pictures and voice messages, to video chat in real-time, to send a wide variety of emoticons, to add locations and maps, etc. Gmail has contributed a lot to global possibilities, but did you know that it can do so much more? Gmail is an extremely powerful tool and below you’ll find a list of tools and features you should definitely start using to significantly enhance your Gmail experience.
1. UNDO SENT ITEMS
Yes, someone finally did it. Gone are the days when you were forced to accept defeat (and humiliation) after hitting the send button when you were either not ready or sending a message to the wrong person. Now, you can enable the “undo send” function in your Gmail settings. This will allow you to retract any email within 30 seconds after sending it. Thirty seconds isn’t much, but how many times have you been in that situation and wished you could un-send something?
2. RAPPORTIVE
This is perfect for emailing people you don’t know much about. Through Rapportive, you can access public information on different people like their work experience, latest tweets and Facebook posts, and updates on LinkedIn. This can really help you personalize your email approach.
3. LABS
A lot of these really cool features can be found in your Gmail’s Labs tab. These are experimental new features that may “break any time, disappear temporarily or permanently, may work so well that they graduate and become regular features.” Visiting this resource regularly and trying them out will give you an edge in terms of productivity and efficiency.
Some notable features include having an automatic Google Maps preview, Google Voice Player, allowing for multiple inboxes, Hangouts, having a preview pane, and canned emails.
4. STARS
Do you know that you are allowed to segregate your emails by using more stars and symbols? Rather than tagging all your emails with yellow stars, you can choose to tag them with a question mark, red exclamation points, and multi-colored stars. This makes email tagging and filtering so much easier.
5. GOOGLE MAIL CHECKER
If you’re constantly checking your inbox, you should install the Google Mail Checker. It will notify you with the number of unread messages you have in your inbox without needing to sign in. Another option is for you to turn on your Gmail desktop notifications in your settings page.
6. YESWARE
This tool will work like magic for salespeople. With Yesware, you can track if the recipient has opened, clicked, or replied to the email you’ve sent. You can now stop wasting your time wondering if they have received or read your email. You can also create and use email templates as well as schedule emails and reminders as to when you need to follow-up or deliver anything! Great, right?
With these tools, you are guaranteed to increase both efficiency and productivity. So go try them out, explore your Labs page and see what else Google’s got cooking! They might just have something new that will make your time, money and energy easier to manage.