When I started with my current employer, I came face to face with corproate Gmail for the first time. I was an Outlook user for as long as I could remember and I found the transition to Gmail really confronting.
Don’t get me wrong; I love using Gmail and actually use it for my home email. But home and work are two completely different things. At work I spend at least three hours a day knee-deep in email and — I’ll be completely honest with you — I really struggled with the change. My biggest struggle was the (perceived lack of) ease of use when using Gmail in a web browser.
Problem numero uno for me was that I was so used to the keyboard shortcuts in Outlook tha tI barely used my mouse. Suddenly I was having to use my mouse for everything except typing the actual message. I knew my productivity was waning and I was getting really, really frustrated.
When I discoverd that Gmail has keyboard shortcuts, I could hear the chorus of angels singing with delight!
Admittedly, the keyboard shortcuts take some getting used to, but they’re really making a difference with how quickly I plough through my emails.
I created a list of the 11 main shortcuts that I would want to use and turned them into a handy download to share with you. It’s an A4 PDF, so it’ll be really easy for you to print off and stick on your document holder or blu-tak to your wall.
I really hope you can learn some new tricks with these!
These are fantastic! I use a few keyboard shortcuts in Gmail (and also in Google Reader) but I didn’t know about most of these.
Thanks for sharing.