Why use Gmail? Reason #4 ...

#4. Labels - Another paradigm shift that Gmail will (happily) force you to make is getting rid of the “everything needs a folder” mentality. Outlook-based email, AOL, Hotmail, and the rest have always forced us to create all these folders for our email, arrange them just so, and otherwise add steps that we don’t really need. There are no folders, really, in Gmail. I mean, they call them the inbox folder and the spam folder just so people know what they’re referring to, but there is not actual folder. So, how do you keep everything straight? Labels! Add a label called “business” that is blue and one called “financial” that is green, or whatever you can come up with. They’re flexible and you can rename them, so you’re bound to come up with plenty of uses for them. But be careful that you don’t overuse them. After all, Gmail is about simplicity, and part of the simplicity is being able to search for an email rather than search through folders, labels, etc. And speaking of search…

Why use Gmail? Reason #3 ...

#3. Filters! - Yay, filters! They rock, rock, rock! And, here’s why. Let’s say you keep getting email from Old Navy, and you just can’t get them to stop sending you stuff. Well, just create a filter that automatically archives (or deletes) all email from them. That way, it skips your inbox entirely and you never see it. There are a ton of great uses for filters. If you have a friend who is always forwarding you junk and you can’t tell them to stop (but you also don’t want to simply block them because they are a friend of yours), then just create a filter that automatically archives everything from “unclesteve@email.com” that has “FWD” in the subject line. That way, if he ever sends you a personal email that isn’t a forward, it’ll come straight to your inbox and you won’t miss a thing. And besides, if you set it to automatically archive, you won’t be getting rid of anyway…just hiding it. Finally, filters can be used to “unsubscribe” from any email service, no matter how hard they make it to do so. If you’re tired of receiving email from someone, set up a filter that automatically deletes all email from them and you’ll never be bothered again.

Why use Gmail? Reason #2 ...

#2. Re-inventing the inbox - Your inbox is like your desktop. It’s your staging area for things you need to deal with or don’t want to forget. The rest of the emails in there should be archived or deleted. It all depends on your own behavior, of course, but you shouldn’t have more than twenty-or-so emails in your inbox at any given time. Sure, you can have a thousand if you want, but you’d be neglecting the whole point of the Gmail inbox and the archive button. Don’t be afraid to archive something immediately after you’ve read it, or if you already know what it’s going to say. Archiving doesn’t hide it away in some locked vault, never to be seen again. It simply removes it from your inbox. Your inbox should just contain emails from people who are actively waiting on a response, or if there’s a bill notification or some other reminder you don’t want to forget.

Why use Gmail? Reason #1 ...

#1. Archiving - You need to get used to archiving everything rather than deleting. In fact, you may need to change your whole outlook on this behavior because it means something entirely different now. Before, if you had an email that you didn’t actively save somewhere, it’d eventually get deleted off the server. Well, with Gmail, unless you specifically delete it or it gets left in the Spam folder, it will remain in your account forever. This is important for two main reasons: security and “searchability.” The good thing is that you’ll never lose another email again…period. However, you also need to be aware that you have to delete anything you absolutely want deleted. So, get in the habit of archiving unless it’s absolute junk and you’re certain you’ll never ever need that email again.

Congratulations, Emily ...

Saturday, May 3, 2008, Emily graduated from the Utah State University with a Bachelor's degree in Family Consumer and Human Development.

As you know, I "pride" myself on being a competent amateur photographer. I was especially excited when it was announced that a family member could come forward to take a picture as the candidates walked across the stage after received their diploma. So, congratulations, Emily, and always prominently display your photo!

Delayed Post Date and Time ...

Did you know that you can now specify the date and time for your blog post to be published? This is neat. When you compose your post, just click on the Post Option drop down arrow and enter the date and time you want the post to be published. Why, you say? Well, suppose you have a goal to publish a post every day - like I do - but often get busy or distracted and miss a day or two. Using the delayed post opiton, you can create several posts when you have time and schedule them for publishing a day apart. So, there should be no excuses for me missing a day from now on! Sure ...

Credit Score ...

You probably know that you can get a free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus once a year, but you have to pay to get your credit score. Quicken Loans has introduced a new site, Quizzle, where you can get your credit score FREE. There is no catch. The site also has some good information about personal finances. Check it out.