Strip down Gmail - return it to its core function. Here's how...

Hi friends,

In an age of incessant notifications and cluttered inboxes, the pursuit of digital minimalism has become increasingly appealing. Gmail, while an undeniably powerful email platform, often harbours a labyrinth of features and options that can distract from its core purpose: streamlined communication. If you crave a return to email's simpler roots, it's time to consider stripping Gmail down to its essential functions, fostering enhanced focus and a more intentional approach to your inbox.

I tried this a year ago and I can safely say that it has improved my focus, productivity and mental wellbeing.

I recommend this to anyone.

First, start with my blog about email subscriptions and follow the advice set out there - here’s a link: https://samjosephthompson.wordpress.com/2024/02/18/enewsletters-the-inbox-overload/

Then follow these simple steps which I first read about when perusing Tiago Forte’s blog where he sets out his second brain thesis.

The fundamental issue with contemporary email usage lies in its indiscriminate application across a vast spectrum of tasks. Just as specialised tools excel in their intended functions, so too does email perform optimally when focused on its core strength. The overextension of email into project management, pseudo task lists, and archival storage compromises its efficiency as a communication tool.

Email was designed for a singular purpose: the exchange of messages. By overloading it with extraneous functions, we hinder its true potential. To restore order and streamline our workflow, let's re-establish email's primary role as a collector of new information.

We can achieve this by carefully integrating dedicated productivity applications – akin to a task list, calendar, file storage, note-taking platform, and a means to discard the unnecessary. While Gmail's interface reflects the accumulation of user demands for multi-functionality, a focused approach requires a deliberate reconfiguration.

Here's a guide to optimising your email environment

Step 1: Turn off multiple inboxes

Multiple inboxes only multiplies the effort. Once your email workflow gains economies of scale, you actually benefitfrom greater volume.

• Settings > Inbox tab > set Inbox type: to Default > uncheck all Categories: except for Primary

Step 2: Turn off all “smart” features

Every single one of these features is useless. Stars, personal level indicators, system labels, categories, circles, labels, importance markers, filters. Remove them all.

Stars: Settings > General > set Presets: to 1 star

Personal level indicators: Settings > General > set Personal level indicators to No indicators

System labels: Settings > Labels > hide all system labels except for Sent Mail, Drafts, All Mail, and Spam

Categories: Settings > Labels > hide all categories in label list and message list

Labels: Settings > Labels > delete all labels at the bottom

Importance markers: Settings > Inbox > set Importance markers to No markers

Filters: Settings > Filters and Blocked Addresses > delete all filters

Step 3: Turn off all chat and social media apps

We spend so much time in email that all other work activities have to be integrated into it (according to Gmail), causing us to spend even more time in email.

Think of email as something you have to get out of the way so that you can engage your creativity or do your job. Real-time collaboration and chat apps are here to stay and have their benefits but if you follow these tips you will spend so little time in email, and will be so focused on processing emails rapidly, chat will just be a distraction.

Settings > Chat > set Chat to Chat off

Step 4: Turn off all notifications

“Your email inbox is someone else’s To Do list”

Tiago Forte recommends repeating this to yourself every time you are tempted to give anyone in the whole world permission to interrupt what you’re doing, at any moment, for any reason. He goes on to say that with this single action he’s seen people’s productivity transform overnight. Try it for just one week. I can tell you it helps to foster a better workflow, personally and professionally.

Settings > General > set Desktop Notifications to Mail notifications off

Thanks for reading and please drop a like / comment if you have a spare moment - which you will, now that you’re not spending so much time in your email… 😊

I find any feedback really useful so, again, if you have time...