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My inbox used to cause me a ton of stress. It's the place I talk to clients, colleagues and team members. But it's also the place I hear from political campaigns, brands, non-profits, journalists and so much more. For many years, all of those emails would come into one single place and it was always so hard to know what I needed to work on now, and what could be put aside for later. But, as it turns out, Gmail has tools to help. These two simple tricks — that combined only take me moments to set up — helped me take my inbox back from the chaos. And they can do the same for you. These hacks work with Gmail AND G Suite (aka Workplace). So if you use Gmail professionally, you're still covered! Creating a gmail filterSo I'm a HUGE newsletter nerd. My inbox is full of emails from journalists and organizations. And I love them. BUT they were cluttering up my inbox & it was keeping me from getting things done. So now, whenever I sign up for a new one, I immediately do the following: I open the first issue & click those 3 vertical dots at the top.  Then I simply click "Filter messages like these"  Then I click "Create filter"  Now I select "Mark as read" and then I click "Create filter"  Now whenever I get an email from that sender, Gmail automatically marks it as read. Step 1 complete! Now on to step 2. See unread emails firstGo to your email settings.  Switch from "Default" to "Unread first"  This will split your inbox into two sections. At the top, you'll see your unread messages. Below, you'll see all those newsletters and other things you want to get to... eventually. They're not archived or filed away, completely out of sight, never to be seen again. They're still right there in your inbox. But now they're comfortably out of the way, allowing you to triage your to-do list accordingly.  You can easily move emails from one section to the other at any time by simply marking them read or unread. That's it. You're all done! Told you it was simple and easy. This simple Gmail hack has made me so much more productive... and less stressed. Hope it helps you too! If you like free tools, tricks and hacks, consider subscribing to my newsletter where I share two free digital tools every two weeks. You can learn more and subscribe at freetools.digital. I also have a corresponding TikTok account. Connect with me!
And if you're looking for more content, check out my podcast Step Up Your Social. All episodes are short (~10 minutes or less) and provide quick, actionable tips to help you take your digital marketing to the next level. Listen today at stepupyoursocial.com or wherever you stream podcasts. I also work directly with brands of all shapes and sizes, helping them find, hone and tell their stories online. Ready to take your digital marketing program to the next level? Let's chat! I don't know about you, but I use Apple Notes constantly. I love them for a bunch of reasons, but primarily: they are always with me. And I mean always. I can jot something down in Notes when at my computer, and through the magic of the iCloud, my Notes are there waiting for me on my iPhone or iPad whenever I need them. And vice versa of course. Not only that, you can use shared Notes just like you use Google Docs, shared between people. Sharing Apple NotesThe primary difference between Notes and Google Docs on your phone (in my experience)— Notes are much more seamless. You can practically see things happening in real time between devices, unlike with Google Docs where the phone lag-time can be significant. To invite someone to collaborate with you on a Note, click the "add a person" button, which looks like this:  You can then add people via email, text message, AirDrop or by sending them the link in the platform of your choice. You'll know it's a shared note from this little icon:  And now, just like a Google Doc, anyone with access can add to, edit or delete items in your shared Notes. Locking Apple NotesSometimes you want a safe space to put things in your phone where you know that no one can access them, even if you hand over your iPhone, iPad or computer. Apple Notes is also the solution for this little problem. Want to store passwords or... well, whatever... throw it in a note and then right click in on your computer or swipe left on your iOs device and you'll get the option to Lock the folder. When you do so, every time you want to access it, you'll have to input your device's password. Which is crazy convenient if you use fingerprint or face ID! When a Note is locked, it will be designated by a little lock icon.  This note is currently "unlocked." If it was locked, the lock icon would be closed. Clean Up Your Notes Using FoldersI told you I use Notes a lot. And for a lot of different things in my life. So of course, I have a lot of different Notes. Folders allow me to separate out my Notes by category. I have a folder for personal Notes, another for work Notes. You can have as many as you want, which makes for really quick and easy scrolling. And of course, if you can't find what you are looking for — like with anything else Apple — you can always search all your Notes by the search bar at the top. You can also pin your primary Note to the top of your folder, to ensure easy access to your most important data.  Notes Have Great Formatting Options For Such a Simple ToolYou can create bullet points, numbered lists, and indent right as needed. You can make text bold, italicized, underlined and all that fun stuff. You can also add in tons of great tools, including tables:  Sketches:  I'm a writer, not so much a painter □ You can even scan documents, or add in a photo or video directly into your Notes! Didn't You Say Something About Checkable Bullet Points?I sure did! Don't get me wrong — I LOVE all of the features I have laid out above. But the reason I'm writing this post is because I just learned something new about Notes and it's already helped me seriously step up my Note game. We write ourselves lots of reminders: Buy milk. Email client. Finish report. Some of these are one-off tasks. But many of them are recurring. For years, I've been deleting items that I finished, and rewriting them when it was time to do them again (pretty standard for a grocery list for example). Well no more! With this one tiny hack, you can now write those tasks out once, and then select or unselect the accompanying bullet point, never having to write it out again. Here's what this looks like:  You write your line item and then check or uncheck the bullet point as appropriate. This will change the way you grocery shop (it sure has for me) but also probably the way you run your business! To access this feature, just click the checkmark in the circle icon:  And voila.
Now add "share this blog post on your social channels" and then go ahead and take it off (after you've done so of course!). In the mean time, check out more of my iOS tips and tricks. Have any other iOS tips, tricks or hacks you think the people should know? Leave them in the comments or hit me up on social and let's share them with the world.  On Friday, Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States before a crowd of about a quarter of a million people gathered on the National Mall.
The following day, half a million people took to the street's in our nation's capital for the #WomensMarch in order to "stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families - recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country." Along with the central march in Washington, DC, there were another 2.5 million people participating in 600 sister marches world wide. The largest marches were in Los Angeles (750k), Washington, DC (500k), New York (400k) and Chicago (250k). It is not surprising the biggest crowds were in the three most populous cities and our nation's capital. The top ten largest marches* were: Los Angeles, CA: 750,000 Washington, DC: 500,000 New York, NY: 400,000 Boston, MA: 100,000 Chicago, IL: 250,000 Denver, CO: 100,000 Madison, WI: 100,000 Portland, OR: 100,000 Seattle, WA: 100,000 St. Paul, MN: 90,000 BUT, when we look at the size of the march compared to the city population, rather than the raw numbers by city, things get interesting. Washington, DC comes out on top, with number of participants equivalent to 75% of their population. [Before we move forward, let's break that down: Washington, DC has a population of 659,000 people. They had 500,000 marchers. So the percentage of marchers, as compared to the city's population, was 500,000/659,000 = 75.87%.] But many people traveled from all over the country to participate in the central march. Second to DC, the clear winner of marchers by city population was Madison, WI with over 40% turnout!!! When rearranged for turnout ratio, the top marching cities are now as follows: Washington, DC: 75.87% Madison, WI: 41.15% St. Paul, MN: 30.51% Los Angeles, CA: 19.23% Portland, OR: 16.42% Boston, MA: 15.5% Denver, CO: 15.38% Seattle, WA: 15.34% Chicago, IL: 9.26% New York, NY: 4.76% Great work Madison, Wisconsin. Way to represent your values. Check out some of the great social content from the day at #WomensMarchMadison. *March sizes sourced from The Hill. Population size is based on city limits and sourced from the Google Knowledge Graph. This awesome infographic was created by iCandy-Graphics and Web Design. Follow them on Twitter @iCandyGraphics1.  I live on my computer. It’s where I work, listen to music, watch tv, connect with friends, follow the news... My computer serves countless functions in both my personal and my professional life.
And I love it. But it can also get complicated. How can I ensure that the tweet I am trying to send for a client doesn’t accidentally go out through my own account (or MUCH WORSE - that my own tweet doesn’t go out through theirs)? How do I check both my personal email and my work email without mixing up the two and losing track of sender? How about engaging with YouTube while also being logged into the Google Apps through a separate, professional setting? Not having a work computer means combining your personal and work systems in endless ways. But keeping the different components of your life distinct is as easy as... using more than one internet browser. I for one use Firefox for my “real” life. Chrome is my work browser. When additional projects come in that need not just their own space, but their own house altogether, it’s time to load up Safari. This system has long kept me sane and relaxed, even when things start piling up. Try it yourself and let me know what you think. Pro tip: If you have a Mac, you can actually create different “desktops.” Get these setup and watch how quickly things start settling in to focus! |
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