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If you’re like me and most other modern day office works, you’ll find yourself checking your e-mail many times a day. Personally, I am rarely away from a computer so in fact, I have my Gmail window open at all times.

Because of this fact, I have been using Gmail to keep track of my tasks and to help me in getting things done. This system of Gmail task management takes advantage of two major features of Gmail.

1. Archiving – never having to delete anything.
2. Keyboard shortcuts – maximizing efficiency and saving time.

The Goal
In using this system, the goal is to keep the Inbox and Drafts folder empty. That’s it!

The Rules
There are just 4 simple rules to follow:

1. Write down everything! When you have a task to do, compose a draft with a description of the task as the subject title and save the draft (do not send it)!
2. You can jot down ideas in the bodies of these drafts or group similar tasks into a single draft.
3. If an e-mail does not need to be replied to or you have already replied to it, archive it.
4. Do not be satisfied until both your Inbox and Drafts folder is empty!

Making it Work
Make sure you write down all tasks! You may think you’ll remember but trust me, you’ll forget something sooner or later. If you’re not used to archiving messages, it may take you a while to get this system started but it’s well worth it! It’s a really good feeling to see a completely empty Inbox — knowing you’ve taken care of all your tasks!

Making it Efficient
Turn on and learn keyboard shortcuts! Here are a few useful ones to get you started:

• c to compose mail
• y to archive an open message
• tab to move between fields
• Esc to exit text field
• Ctrl-S to save draft
• ? to pull up a quick list of keyboard shortcuts

Combining it with GTD
You can easily combine this system with GTD by transferring things back and forth from your Gmail to your Hipster PDA (or Hipster Mini) whenever you are moving away from your computer!

Got tips and tricks to share when using Gmail? Leave a comment!

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This entry was posted on Monday, December 10th, 2007 at 10:42 pm and is filed under Efficiency, Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.