Personally, I enjoy figuring out ways to be more efficient and more productive. One area that I’ve developed several shortcuts and optimizations is Google Apps, specifically Gmail. For two decades, I did email in a native app (Pine, Thunderbird, and Outlook) before switching exclusively to Gmail. After being Gmail-only for several years, I recommend it to everyone.
Here are a few Gmail productivity tips:
- Send and Archive – For almost all email responses, I use the optional Send and Archive button available through Gmail Settings. The idea is that once I send a response, I don’t want to see the email again unless the recipient responds back. With one click, the response is sent and I likely won’t ever see that email again.
- Auto-Advance Emails – Every time I respond to an email, Gmail automatically takes me to the next oldest email in the Inbox without showing the Inbox via auto-advance, making it easy to rapid-fire process emails.
- Canned Responses – Many of the common emails I send, like scheduling a meeting or introducing another person, are a canned response, making the email process faster and more consistent.
- Calendly Signature Link – For sales reps and customer-facing roles, adding a Calendly link to the signature (see Jason’s post on Calendly) makes it easy for prospects and clients to schedule a meeting with limited friction.
- Hide Unread Email Counts – As I don’t want to be distracted by the number of unread emails, I click on the “Starred” folder on the left navigation to change the page title and thus not show new emails in the inbox.
- Native Mobile App – On iPhone, the native Gmail app is much better than using the standard email program, but doesn’t support all the above features.
Gmail is an amazing tool, and with these productivity tips, an even better and more efficient experience.
What else? What are some more Gmail productivity tips that you like?
David Cummings on Startups 
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