Should You Upgrade from Gmail to Inbox (Hint: You Probably Should)

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Get Shift Done: Management

Inbox is less annoying than Gmail, and you can always go back.

Photo credit: Martin Heller

Online email systems perform the valuable service of filtering out spam at the server before it can clog up our local Internet connection. But even Gmail has its issues, mostly in the design of its web and mobile clients, which tend towards cluttered displays and unnecessary notifications. Who needs an alert that you just got 10 new emails, when none of them are of actual interest?

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Compose Gmails With One Click

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Get Shift Done: Tips and Tricks

When you’re heads-down working and want to avoid the distraction of your incoming email, you can use this tip to send outgoing emails without entering your inbox. The trick: create a browser bookmark that takes you directly to Gmail’s “Compose Email” window without first passing through your inbox.


  1. Start by copying this link: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&source=mailto&to=add-addresses@gmail.com
  2. Next paste the copied link into the your browser’s address bar (1).
  3. Then, hit the enter or return key and it will open the Compose Email page.
  4. Finally, add that compose page as a bookmark. To do so in Chrome, click the little “add bookmark” star at the far right of the address bar (2). You can see that I have mine on the main bookmark bar (3) for easy access:


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Filter Gmail To Delegate Routine Email to Your Assistants — Safely

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Get Shift Done: Tips and Tricks

Plenty of managers are smart enough to get help with their daily email traffic. But many people don’t realize that they can give assistants access to only part of the load. Private correspondence stays private, while delegated items are routed to an assistant immediately. Here’s how this simple Gmail automation works.

You’re busy! To manage your time, you’ve identified slices of your work that someone else can do, and you found someone to do them. You naturally assume that the way to delegate this work is to share your e-mail password with the assistant: not so good.

Filter, don’t share. Here I show you how to configure an appropriate Gmail filter. The tip below applies equally whether you rely on fee-free Gmail or G Suite. (Apple Mail, Outlook, and other services offer similar functionality, but about one in six messages are read in Gmail.) Moreover, the configuration below works without regard to the e-mail system used by your assistant.

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