Get more from Gmail - Gmail Labs

Google has launched Lab Edition of its famous Gmail service with exciting features which can help you get more from your email service. You can selectively enable these features on your account by going to Gmail Settings >> Labs tabs. Most of these feature are highly innovative and described in brief below…

Since the introduction of Gmail Labs, new features have been added steadily. Some are just for fun, while others can add to improving your productivity. Here is a roundup of the most useful features you will find in Gmail Labs at this point, and how they can help you do more with Gmail.

For more information goto http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/introducing-gmail-labs.html

1. Send & Archive

Added to labs only a few days ago,‘Send & Archive’ is a great solution for those of us who like to keep their inbox as empty as possible. After sending a message, you would normally have to click an additional button to archive a thread. Now, you can do both with just one mouse-click.
Let’s say it takes an additional 2 seconds to archive each message after you send it, and you do this to 20 messages a day, then by using this feature you can save 4 hours a year. Doesn’t seem like that much, but that is just for one task. When streamlining more of our day to day activities, we could save enough time to justify an extra vacation.

2. Tasks

Without a doubt it is one of the most useful developments in Gmail Labs. Although there are countless other ‘to-do-list organizers’, it is handy to have one right in Gmail. The time you save from not logging into multiple websites for your email and task list can also add up over time. I’m not even mentioning how nice it is to cut down on yet another unnecessary tab.

3. Superstars in your inbox

I am the type of person who stars just about everything. When an email needs to get replied to, forwarded, or when it contains some sort of important information I will need later, it always get’s a bright shiny star. Starring helps me navigate my inbox faster, and find the information I need to look at again at a later time. However, before Labs every star was the same. By enabling ‘Superstars’in Gmail labs there are different types of stars you can assign to different types of emails. For example, info that needs to be copies into my calendar gets a red star. Emails I need to respond to later get a yellow star. When I need to update my calendar, I just type in “has:red-star”, and all relevant messages are lined up in a second.

This feature saves me an endless amount of time every day.

4. Take a Break!

Email addicts have to be reminded to take a break and walk around once in a while. By the time you’re parched and stiff, but still stubbornly typing away, you are already far overdue for a few minutes to yourself. Gmail can help you get some down-time by forcing a break. Acknowledge your addiction by enabling ‘Email Addict’ in Labs. You can specify how often your screen will freeze up and tell you to get up and take five.

5. Forgotten Attachment Detector

By far my favorite feature is the Forgotten Attachment Detector. Over are the days of sending multiple emails with embarrassed apologies because I forgot an attachment, or two. This little tool picks up on whether your email message refers to an attached file, and alerts you when you try to hit send without actually attaching the file in question.

6. Google Calender in Gmail

Again cutting down on the number of tabs you need to keep open in your browser, you can display a mini-version of yourGoogle Calendar. Easily keep track of upcoming appointments for the day, without leaving Gmail.

7. Google Docs Gadget

If you are an avid user of Google Docs, it is handy to keep a shortcut to your favorite (i.e. most used) docs right in your inbox. Activate this gadget, and you’ll see a list of docs pop up in your Gmail.This is different from the “create a document” feature, but just (perhaps even more) handy.