Robert Vrabel

I used to keep a documents folder on my computer which i would store reminders, snip its of text, wish lists etc. It used to be a real hassle accessing this information as i had to be at home on my machine to access anything. I transfered all my stuff into Google Docs and it has been a real treat to be able to access this information anywhere, even on my phone! The application is built just like any other suite like Microsoft Office or iWorks. It offers you the ability to store documents, presentations and spreadsheets online.

One of the best features is the ability to collaborate with people by editing a document at the same time. You will see there changes as they are made and you never have to worry about overwriting someone else’s work as it saves all pasted revisions as well.

One of the most used documents I have saved is one called “My Wish List”. Anytime I see something online or hear about something I want, I add it to my wish list with a link to the product. I share this document with my fiance and when it comes time to gift buying, she has access to all the things I want. It makes life a lot easier around the holidays when you get asked that dreaded question “what do you want?”. I never struggle with that anymore as I always have an up-to-date list to give people ideas.

Google Calendar has been a huge part of the way my fiance and I keep track of what we are doing. We both have an individual calendar, and a calendar for things that we both are attending. We share these calendars with each other so when we login we can easily see everything that is going on between us. You can color code calendars so you can easily tell what type of event it is. I would highly recommend this for anyone who is struggling in keeping track of upcoming events. This has saved us a lot of time and has made making plans a breeze since we can access our calendar from anywhere. Needless to say without this we would probably miss a lot of things. Just head over to Google Calendar to get started.

Tips

1. Ever forget someones birthday? I know I always do. Create a new calendar called “Birthdays” and add an event into that calendar as a yearly recurring event with the event title as that persons name. Now every year you will see an event for their birthday.
2. You can add public calendars like Holidays etc. by clicking “Add” next to calendar, and click “Add Public Calendars”.
3. Don’t want to always view a certain calendar? Simply click the check box next to it to inactivate/activate it.
4. You can have Google Calendar notify you of upcoming events by phone (SMS) or E-mail by going to Settings -> Calendars, then click “Notifications” next to the calendar.
5. Want a reminder for a specific event? Simply edit the event and click “Add Reminder”

To understand Google Reader you will have to understand RSS. Like anything doing certain routines get old, and newer ways are created. Instead of going out to all of your favorite sites to see what new things are posted, why not have the news come to you? RSS works by simply subscribing to a website feed, and anytime something new is posted it gets delivered to you similar to how e-mail works. The next time you login to read things it shows all your new items and automatically marks things as read as you read them. This saves time by not having to go out to a website and try to figure out what the new information is posted. It also saves time because ALL of your favorite sites are in one spot organized however you want it. Here is a very useful picture to explain RSS.

Sign up for Google Reader before continuing. Now lets discuss how to subscribe to a feed.

Subscribing to a Feed

Using almost any new browser will display the RSS icon in the URL address. Simply click on this and add it to Google Reader. It’s as simple as that!

Tips

1. Organize your feeds by adding them to a folder. Personally, i have some folders setup called News, Gaming, Web Development, Blogs, etc..
2. As you scroll down the list you will notice the items being marked as read (the number should decrease). Anytime you see a number next to a feed name, that means you have unread items in it.
3. You can easily share stories from a feed by clicking “Share” (this will send it to anyone in your Google Address Book who uses Google Reader. Next time they login to Google Reader they will see your share) or by hitting the “Email” button which will allow you to e-mail the article to anyone.
4. Reading an article that you would consider a favorite? Simply hit the Star button next to it to add it to your favorites. You can see all of your favorites by clicking “Starred Items” at the top.
5. You can also search all of your new and past read articles by using the google powered search input at the top of the screen.

This will be one of the many posts in the near future of websites i use on a daily basis. The main focus of these articles will be to go into detail on what features i use on the site that make my life easier and/or how those features saves me time. Lets start with Google Mail.

Anyone can use an E-mail client, but are you getting the most out of yours? Using filters inside of Google Mail can help keep your inbox neat and tidy. Lets say for example you receive e-mails from Amazon on a weekly basis. You enjoy reading these e-mails but would rather them not show in your inbox. Lets setup a filter to handle this situation.

Filters

1. Open up the settings by clicking “Settings” in the upper right hand corner.
2. Click “Filters”
3. Click “Create a new filter”
4. Inside the “From” Field put “*@amazon.com” (no quotes) and click “Next Step”
5. Checkmark “Skip the Inbox(Archive It)”
6. Checkmark “Apply the Label” and choose a label. Call this label “Amazon”
7. Checkmark “Also apply filter to x conversations below
8. Click Create Filter

Now every time an e-mail comes from Amazon.com it will automatically skip your inbox, and apply the label “Amazon” to it. To access all your Amazon mail, simply click on the “Amazon” label under the “Labels” section. Labels are different than a folder as an e-mail can have multiple labels. The benefit of this is you can get to your e-mails in multiple ways.

Experiment setting up rules for the types of e-mails you receive. By simply setting up filters to label your e-mails automatically, all of your mail will be neatly organized automatically.

Searching

How often can you NOT find an e-mail you are looking for? Well using the “Search” feature quickly brings up e-mails realitive to what you are searching for with the power of Google Search behind it. I am sure you are familiar with how good Google.com searches, now imagine that power with your e-mails!

Never delete e-mails again

Google Mail offers you tons of storage space. Never worry about deleting that e-mail from Grandma to save space. Simply Archive it and forget about it. You never know when that e-mail will come in handy in the future and its extremely easy to find it again if you have it labeled or by searching for it.

Signing up for Unknown Websites

How often do you visit a website, and don’t want to signup because you are afraid you will receive spam from them? If you were to signup for a website using yourusername+signup@gmail.com you can simply setup a filter to filter e-mails that are TO yourusername+signup@gmail.com. Using this you can automatically send spam from websites to this label as opposed to signing up for a whole another e-mail account!

Google Talk

Almost all of my friends are using Google Mail now. I am able to chat directly inside the browser when needed. Having this integrated into the browser has been a huge help in communicating, especially if you are on a computer that you are not able to install a chat client on. This also saves all of your chats in the “Chats” section on the left. You have no idea how many times i have had to reference past chats to obtain information. Of course, you can go “Off the record” if needed to NOT save past chats.

Contacts

A feature i use all the time is creating Groups with my contacts. I created a group called “Family” which when i want to send an e-mail to my whole family i just type “Family” in the “To” address and select the option i provides. Never have to worry about remembering everyones e-mails, or leaving someone out.

Conclusion

Using the concepts above using E-mail has been more rewarding than ever. I never waste time with useless e-mails inside my in box as everything is automated and with Google’s spam filters, i hardly EVER get spam inside my inbox. Don’t fight with your e-mail client, switch to Google Mail today.