5 Gmail Hacks to 10x Your Email Productivity

TARGET AUDIENCE: Heavy Gmail users

As knowledge professionals, we're bombarded with about 126 emails daily. We spend 4 hours a day (25% of our day) in our inboxes reading and responding to emails. For those aspiring to be top-tier Salesforce developers, boosting productivity is key. Let's dive into elevating our email efficiency, starting with Gmail, a tool we all frequently use. Here are 5 strategies I've employed to supercharge my Gmail efficiency:

1. Master 3 Keyboard Shortcuts

The quickest way to enhance productivity in Gmail is to use keyboard shortcuts. These shortcuts allow you to navigate through your inbox, compose messages, and shoot an email.

To enable them, go to Settings > See all settings > General > Keyboard shortcuts and turn them on. Some useful shortcuts include:

• c to compose a new email.
• e to archive an email.
• # to delete an email.
• j and k to navigate between emails.

Can you try the shortcuts c,e and #? Is ’t it awesome! Do you feel the productivity gains?

After enabling keyboard shortcuts, press ‘Shift + /’ to view all the shortcuts (like below).

Did you open the shortcut list? Which are your favourite 3 shortcuts?

2. Integrate with Google Calendar

I always have Google Calendar open beside my Gmail inbox. Creating events directly from emails is a breeze, with subjects and attendees auto-filled. Try it out and see how it streamlines your scheduling!

3. Undo Send - A Lifesaver

Ever sent an email too soon? The 'Undo Send' feature is here to help. This feature lets you recall an email after hitting send.

How to enable it:-

• Click “Gear” icon in upper right hand corner
• Click on Settings
• Find “Undo Send ” feature
• Select “Enable Undo Send” option (you can set the duration to unsend an email through send cancellation period’)
• Click on Save Changes

Below is a GIF of me ‘unsending’ an email so that I can change the subject. Notice that I used the shortcut ‘c’ to start the email and ‘Cmd + Enter’ to send the email.

4. Supercharge Your Replies with ‘GPT for Gmail’

GPT for Gmail is an AI-powered tool, using Bard AI and ChatGPT, to craft replies swiftly.

1. Install it from the Google Workspace Marketplace
2. Open an email
3. Select the ‘GPT for Gmail’ app on the vertical sidebar
4. Choose your response tone
5. Click ‘Create reply’
6. Personalize and send using “Cmd + Enter” keyboard shortcut

It's a game-changer for quick, effective responses.

Here is a GIF showing how I can compose a reply in 5 seconds.

Did you explore the Google Workspace Marketplace ? Did you find any useful add-ons?

5. Quick & Small Tips

Did you know that you can send your Google Calendar availabilities directly in an email (see GIF below)?

***BONUS Quick Tips***

1. Treat your inbox as a ‘To Do’ list
2. Archive or delete all dealt emails
3. Aim for an empty inbox
4. Unsubscribe from non-essential lists
5. Enable email reminders with Gmail nudgeClick on Settings > See all SettingsScroll to NudgesToggle both options.

These strategies have transformed my Gmail experience, boosting efficiency and saving time. Give them a try and see the difference they make in your email routine!

At the same time it is important to avoid all Gmail features that are distracting.

1. Turn off all “smart” features

90% of smart features within Gmail are unnecessary. They only add clutter to an already overflowing inbox.

To declutter, we need to go back to basics. Turn off all smart features.

On Gmail , click the Gear icon > See all Settings.

For each smart feature:

• Stars : General > Presets: 1 star.
• Personal level indicators: General > Personal level indicators: no indicators.
• Labels : Labels > System Labels: hide all labels except Sent, Drafts, and All Mail. You can unhide more if you like.
• Categories : Labels > Categories: hide all categories in the label and message list.
• Importance markers : Inbox > Importance markers: no markers.
• Filters : Filters and Blocked Addresses > Delete all filters.

2. Turn off Chat & Meet apps

(Almost) nobody uses Gmail chat. Let’s get rid of it. Slack , Whatsapp , Telegram , etc are superior alternatives.

Goal: Don’t use Gmail for anything other than email.

How to turn off chat in 4 easy steps:

1. Click Settings > See all Settings
2. Click on Chat and Meet
3. Turn off chat
4. Hide Meet

We don’t need Meet. It’s better suited to Google Calendar . Followed the above steps?

3. Avoid Templates

Templates are so generic and old-school. Use instead the ‘ChatGPT for Gmail’ add-on, which will generate custom responses for you.