Are You A Gmail Ninja?

Like every sub­ur­ban white kid who grew up in the early 1980’s, I love and respect the Ninja.  I am not sure if this affec­tion is traced back to GI Joe’s neme­sis Storm Shadow, the short lived show “The Mas­ter,” read­ily avail­able ninja throw­ing stars that you could pick up at the Upper Val­ley Mall, the Karate Kid, the Last Dragon, or any num­ber of other 80’s depic­tion of mad mar­tial arts skills.   It is likely a com­bi­na­tion of all of these fac­tors, plus New Coke, Dip­pity Doo and more that makes the Ninja so revered. 

Any­way, the Ninja is about as lethal as they come.  Unmatched skill, speed, strength, and poise.  Yet I hon­estly believe that even the finest 80’s ninja would likely be over­whelmed by a mod­ern foe known as email inbox over­load.  Yes, the neme­sis of busi­ness peo­ple and cit­i­zens alike, email over­load is a bane to the mod­ern existence. 

So what is an 80’s ninja to do?  Put down the throw­ing stars, flash pow­der and sword and get a gmail account.  Then, check out this sweet guide from Google on how to become a Gmail Ninja.  It con­tains many great tips on how to bet­ter man­age email with fil­ters, archives, fold­ers, hotkeys, labels, tasks, and more.  I believe that upon read­ing the arti­cle I am cur­rently a black­belt — but not yet a mas­ter.  Per­haps it is time to sand the floor, paint a fence or wax a vehi­cle to enhance my skills.

In all seri­ous­ness, the arti­cle has many great tips for keep­ing your gmail inbox under con­trol, free­ing up time for you to go back to YouTube and watch Bruce Lee clips.  Check it out.

Gmail: Tips