Gotta Get GMAIL

If you have a gmail account, you know what I'm talking about. Gmail (and more generally Google) is so incredibly powerful that you simply cannot afford to be without it, in my opinion.

I am historically an Outlook user, and seriously resisted the change to gmail. In fact, I'll confess I still have two Outlook accounts, and I am still more comfortable there than in gmail. But . . . that being said, I have come to rely more and more on my gmail accounts (yes, I have several - 5 at last count). I have slowly but surely seen glimpses of the power available there.

For instance, I can direct all 5 of my gmail accounts to come into one inbox. And when sending an email from that inbox, I simply choose which email address I am sending "from." These gmail accounts are free, and very easy to set up. So I have several set up for different purposes.

For example, I use one email for all subscriptions to blogs, newsletters, or sales letters. That way, those items are not cluttering up my main email box. I know, I said they all come into one box, and they do. But I can easily just view the ones coming in from one box, excluding the "junk" email that I may want to read, just not right now.

You can also color code each email according to the folder in which it is filed. Simply label the email with the folder to which it belongs, set the folder color, and then at a glance when you look in your inbox, you can easily spot all emails belonging in a specific folder because they are all the same color.

Or I can direct any emails from certain sources to go directly into the appropriate folder, completely bypassing the inbox altogether.

But in addition to how Google handles email, there are so many other tools available when you open up Gmail. In the top left corner, you will find many tools, such as Calendar, Documents, Web, Reader and a link called "more." Click on "more" and you will get another dozen or more tools. This is the real power of Gmail.

The calendar function has been difficult for me to get used to, but what I love about it is that it automatically syncs with my iphone, instantly. I can enter something into my computer calendar, and it shows up in my iphone calendar, and vice versa.

I am a visual person, so am very used to seeing my monthly calendar laid out before my eyes. That is not possible to do on my iphone, so it has been a real adjustment, but it is possible to see that layout on my computer. So I am slowly making the adjustment. Although I am still keeping my paper calendar right now, I am trying to go completely electronic. I have messed up on several appointments because I have written something on the paper and not the electronic. Sheesh! I hate it when that happens.

Once you have a google account (which can start as a gmail account), you'll find ease of access to many other parts of the internet. For example when I log into YouTube, or my blog, or any number of other sites, I simply log into gmail, and I'm in. When I'm in my blog, I get an opportunity to look for photos via Picasa. Whether or not I have ever heard of, or signed up for Picasa, all I have to do is enter my password for gmail, and I'm in!

Next post I will go into more detail about the other features available with Gmail. Meanwhile, tell me what you think? Do you use gmail? Do you like it? What do you love/hate about it?