If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by your Gmail account, I assure you, you’re not alone. We all receive a bazillion emails all day long, from colleagues, students, administrators, advertisers, organizations… so. many. emails. But we need email to communicate.
So today’s blog post is how to make Gmail less overwhelming and more efficient.
Turn Off Sharing Notifications
Our students share Google files with us daily. But it’s frustrating to receive an email for each file every time a student shares something. It can clog up our inboxes real quick. To combat that, ask your students to turn off sharing notifications when they send you a file. The file will still land in your Shared folder, but you will not receive an email notification.
Archive vs. Delete
I love getting rid of things. Love it! But I also like to save things just in case I need them later. This is when you should archive emails, instead of deleting them. Archiving allows you to clear your inbox (woo hoo!) without the anxiety of “what if.” As Google says, “archiving removes messages from your inbox, but keeps them in your account so that you can always find them later.” Bingo! So the next time you’re waffling over an email, click the archive button instead the trash button. Benefits to this include:
- You’ll still have the email under the All Mail label, so you can search for it easily.
- If someone replies to that email, it will come back to your inbox.
- Your inbox is clear!
Inbox Setup
There are several ways to set up your inbox. To change to one or the other, click “Settings,” under Settings 
. Then choose “Inbox.”
. Then choose “Inbox.”
- By default, Gmail gives your inbox tabs, like Primary, Social, Forums, etc. Your emails will be auto-sorted into these categories, or you can sort them yourself. Some people really like this, as Google sorts through things for you; it keeps your “real” emails under the Primary tab, then sorts coupons under Promotions and Facebook under Social. To change/add/delete any tabs, click “Configure Inbox,” under Settings
- Choosing “Unread first” will separate your emails into two categories: “unread” at the top, and “everything else” at the bottom. I like to use my inbox as a “to do list,” so this works best for me.
- Three more layout options include “important first,” “starred first,” and “priority inbox.” They are variations on the “unread/everything else” layout, but allow for more customization.
Conclusion
Email is a necessity but can be overwhelming and/or frustrating. But Gmail can be made more efficient through a few simple tweaks, like asking your students to turn off sharing notifications, archiving emails, or choosing a different inbox layout. Don’t let a clogged inbox keep you down!
Even More Helpful Stuff
- How to Keep Your Inbox Clean, including archive vs. delete, automatic filtering, priority inbox, and unroll.me.
- How to Organize Your Gmail Inbox to be More Effective, including the difference between a label/folder/tab, how to use and manage labels, inbox settings, and archiving.
