Use GMail as a Personal Organizer

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From the computer of: tipmonkies (8 recipes)
Created: Sep 23, 2007

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There are some really great features about GMail which I really love: labels, fuzzy address, and filters. Using these tools, you can use your GMail account as your very own personal organizer tool. I will use this tutorial to show you how to create and organize notes within gmail.

Let me begin by explaining just what each term is before we continue:

Labels are like folders except they allow you to classify e-mail into various categories. We will be doing a feature on GMail labels in the next few days so that's all you need to know for now.

Fuzzy addresses is a great technique which avoids inputting the wrong e-mail address. Dots and capital letters don't matter with GMail addresses so your.name@gmail.com, YourName@gmail.com, or any combination will send the e-mail to the same address.

Filters are commonly used spam fighting tools. Basically, they let you create blacklists of e-mails which are spam and automatically sends them to the trash. In GMail, however, they can be used for much more

What these features can do for you

By combining these three features, we can easily use GMail to keep notes, to-do lists, and much more! In this guide, we'll show you how to keep notes, but use your imagination.

How is it done?

First, log in to your GMail account and create a new label. Let's call this label, Notes. Once it's created, you will see it on the left-hand side of your window.

Now, create a new filter. You can go to Settings, then click on Filters or just click the Create a new filter link next to the search box.

At the Create a filter page, go to the input box labeled To: and type in your.name+Notes@gmail.com where your.name is your GMail username. Click Next.

At the next page, check Apply the label and choose Notes. Optionally, you may also check Skip the inbox to automatically archive the e-mail. Click Create filter.

Now you're all set! Simply write yourself an e-mail from any e-mail address to your.name+Notes@gmail.com and be amazed at what a great organizing tool GMail could be!