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Oooh I like this very much, though it looks like I'm not allowed to play with it just yet on my account. Labels and filters solve several Gmail problems but de
by simonsarris 13y ago
Oooh I like this very much, though it looks like I'm not allowed to play with it just yet on my account.
Labels and filters solve several Gmail problems but demand too much footwork on my part. I found that my Gmail experience got better when I adopted this credo about two weeks ago:
Thou shalt have but one Gmail label, and that label's name shalt be "Needs Reply".
Either it can wait, and be there when I specifically look (search) for it, or it needs a reply. I need to know which emails need replies, and I generally need to label them manually.
Labels beyond this I view as a distraction. I used to label everything, now I label nothing. The fewer you can use the better, I think.
And yet I still want a label or two for all the semi-solicited mail I get. Things that I do not need in my inbox, but ought to be there for my idle perusement: Banana Republic sales, MyHabit "deals", Newegg dailies, Kindle book of the day deals, and so on.
And then there are things like Facebook updates. Nice to know, but I'll get to them eventually anyway the next time I open up Facebook, which I look at about as much as my grandmother checks the weather (read: Every hour, and for no reason).
If this wants to distill my system for me then I'm ready with open arms. Bigger tabs at the top are way better than a hard-to-parse list on the side. Can't they turn it off for a complainer and roll it out to me?
- jonny_eh 13y agoFor emails that need a reply, I just keep those as "marked unread". There's no way I forget about those.
- TeMPOraL 13y agoI star them instead. It's one click/keypress and they don't unstar themselves next time I open them (accidentally or not).
- udfalkso 13y agoI discovered another approach recently that works great. If an email needs a reply, I hit reply and save it as a draft. My drafts is now my one and only email to-do list.
- obviouslygreen 13y agoThou shalt have but one Gmail label, and that label's name shalt be "Needs Reply". I'm glad this works for you, but keeping track of and searching through years of emails -- and chats -- with dozens of disparate people and clients makes labels, or something similar, indispensable to me. Going overboard and having a label for everything under the sun would, for most of us, decrease their utility. But in at least some use cases, having many labels definitely is not in and of itself a bad thing.
- SCdF 13y agoThat's really interesting. You don't even label emails you've archived? I like to chuck "invoice" on everything that represents money changing hands: actual invoices, e-purchase emails (congrats on buying this game / software, here is your key), stuff like that. I also have a few others about specific topics. In terms of labeling emails that need replies for me if it's still in the inbox if it needs a reply / action. If I'm done with an email I archive it.
- jaredmcateer 13y agoI like to keep a Zero Inbox as well so labelling things is absolutely essential, I have over 20 labels. Seeing the 2000 unread emails in my girlfriends inbox makes my eye twitch.
- cm2012 13y agoMy unread 26,000 may kill you.
- Fuzzwah 13y agoI thought I was doing well with 12,800! Every time I read comments on HN about how people have these "amazing" systems of filtering and labeling in gmail I always wonder if there's anyone else who uses gmail like I use it.... turns out there is and they've doubled my high score.
- kbenson 13y agoThe owner of the (small) company I work at has 55k+ unread in his inbox. I suggested a few weeks ago he move to the priority inbox in an attempt to deal with the crazy inflow he manages.
- gregpilling 13y agoI am in the 50K range, have thought of hiring someone to archive it for me.