Shortcuts to productivity

Gmail has become the world's dominating email service by caring for everybody, no matter people's motor skills or willingness to adapt. Gmail looks very different from a couple of years ago, it is much more open to different ways of working - which is good.

But.

Not every way of working is equally efficient. So today, let's talk about something many people shy away from, and make it yours. Let's talk about shortcuts and how they can enable workflows to put email back into its cage.

Before there was WASD, there was HJKL.

Enabling shortcuts

Gmail has two levels of shortcuts. The first is "editor shortcuts" such as Ctrl+b to make text bold. These are always enabled. (We are not satisfied with basics.)

Here is how to make sure you have the proper shortcuts enabled:

On the web, open Gmail
Open preferences
On the general tab, go to keyboard shortcuts and select Keyboard shortcuts on.

The basic shortcuts you should know

I will not repeat all of the shortcuts - see for yourself. Press the question mark key to see a pop-up with a full list! (That is, if you have enabled shortcuts in the first place). But you absolutely should be familiar with these:

Fire away emails: c starts composing a new email. r replies, a replies to all. CTRL+Enter sends.
CTRL+Shift+C copies a person (plussing in would be more elegant). CTRL+Shift+B puts someone in BCC.
Deal with emails once: m mutes an email threat. e archives it.
If you work with labels: l assigns a label (start typing). { archives the email you are reading and goes on to the next. No need to lift your hand off the keyboard. y removes a label.
If you like space: d starts composing in a new Gmail tab, full-screen. Shift+r replies in a Gmail window instead of below the thread.
Navigate: type gi to go to your inbox. gs goes to starred. gt goes to sent. gd goes to draft. And so on.

Pro tip: being able to navigate this easily to your inboxes means you don't have to have their icons in your face all the time. This enables you to configure a more minimalist interface if you like - less distraction, even more productivity.

Full workflows

This is why we are doing this! Because basic shortcuts are still not enough. Let's string them together to induce Gmail nirvana!

Workflow: Search, look at the result and go back

Let's say you are searching for something, dipping in and out of the results list.

/ takes you to search, so you could type in last stop. You hit enter and see a list of messages.
j will scroll down the message list. k will scroll up. Enter will open the message.
u will go back to your search, allowing you to open other emails.
gi will bring you back to your inbox when you are done. Home sweet home.

Workflow: Plow through your email, touch once

It is Friday and you want to clean out your inbox to catch all the loose ends.

Open the first email.
Either reply, reply all, mute or label. In case you have not configured auto-advance yet (you should), click { to archive and go to the next email.
If you need to track that email for later, Shift+t creates a task in case you use Google Tasks. If you track somewhere else, Ctrl+l selects Chrome's URL so you can copy the email's unique address and come back later.
Repeat until you are done!

🤓 Nerd alert: Why Gmail's shortcuts are like that

In case you ask yourself who in their right mind creates shortcuts like j and k: These are found in Unix text editor VI ("vee-eye"). Unix is mostly keyboard-based, so how do you use a text editor without a mouse? By separating the "editing mode" from the "navigation mode", in which keystrokes become commands for modifying the file and moving the cursor around. You use shortcuts such as j (move cursor one line down), k (move cursor one line up). Recognize something? It also has a lot of compound commands such as the go-to command for moving to certain positions of the file. g1: Go to line 1. g2: go to line 2. gi: go to inbox. Oh wait, that's Gmail.

As with everything in IT, there are huge "they vs. us" controversies going on with VI and its competitors. It would cost me a couple of readers to proclaim that over a billion active Gmail users mean that VI has won after all - so I will not go there.

VI in all its glory.

Welcome to the highest level of Gmail proficiency - this plus conversation view and thinking in threads is how the service is meant to be used. Let me know how it went, and your favorite workflows! Thank you for reading!

#gmailPublished 2019-12-03 by Holger Matthies.Modified 2020-11-10 by Holger Matthies.Written listening to Gabriel & Dresden - Tracking Treasure Down

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