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EMAIL IS THE bane of many a life. There’s nothing worse than coming into work every morning, or arriving back from a break to find your inbox is full of mail. The goal to bring your inbox down to zero and manage the influx of mail coming in is always a concern.
Thankfully there are a number of steps you can take to help combat this. Here are a few to get you started.
Create tabs
For: Gmail
An incredibly handy tool once you get used to it, creating new tabs will greatly reduce the effort required to filter through your inbox. For Gmail, you can create up to five tabs which are:
Social: Any notifications for your social media accounts will appear here.
Promotions: Any newsletters or deals will come into this, marketing emails essentially Updates: Any automated messages such as product updates will come in here
Forums: Any email update from messaging forums
Primary: Your main inbox. Emails from personal users would feature here.
Activate Keyboard shortcuts
For: Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo
If you want to speed things up a little bit, it’s a good idea to turn on keyboard shortcuts. You will have to activate them in settings first, but once you become accustomed to the basics, you will be able to filter through your inbox quickly. Certain providers like Gmail lets you customise keys, but what’s there should be more than enough.
Keyboard shortcuts for Gmail can be found here, Outlook users can look here (and lets you choose different versions to use) and Yahoo users can see their version here.
Sweep mail
For: Outlook
Microsoft Outlook (formally Hotmail) has an incredibly handy feature which can get rid of a specific type of email quickly. By selecting the mail you want removed, selecting sweep will get rid of any similar messages from that sender or delay an action until a certain amount of time has passed.
Organise mail with labels/folders
For: Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo
It’s a good idea to group new inbox entries when they come in so you know from a glance what they’re about when you revisit them.
If you’re using a personal account, it’s probably better to keep the labels to a minimum unless you’re absolutely flooded with mail every day. Outlook lets you put mail into specific categories while Yahoo allows you to create folders for use.
Activate canned responses
For: Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo
A useful feature found in Settings > Labs, canned responses can be used to give quick replies to mail like ‘see you in five minutes.’ Alternatively, all email providers allow you to create reply templates should you find yourself writing the same mail all too often.
Undo send
For: Gmail, Outlook (Office version)
More a tip than a method to organise your mail, but sometimes you will hit the send button a little too quickly. If this happens regularly, you can activate the ‘undo send’ button in Gmail Labs. Doing this gives you up a few seconds to undo your action before it reaches the recipient.
A similar function is available in Outlook Office.
Activate scheduled responses
For: Gmail
If you know someone will be back at a certain time but don’t want to fire them a mail since it will get buried, delayed emails is the tool for you.
By downloading the Boomerang for Gmail extension, you can use this the next time you want to get a mail out of the way, but want to delay it. You can also customise it so that if you don’t get a reply, or if the mail isn’t clicked or opened, the mail returns to you.
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Just a normal day on the chaos that is the M50. Expect two or three crashes later on just in time for the evening rush.
@Dave Murray: find it easier to go through town now with less likely chance of crashes
From my own personal observations and IMHO it would appear to me (without any scientific measurements) that most collisions happen due to McDonalds Queuing Symptom. That other lane is moving faster, a little gap to the right or left……..and go ffs….just go…….oooops! And as for the pathetic rubber neckers on the other side of the road!
@Dave Murray: Drivers are driving to close to the vehicle in front and no time for reaction I have seen drivers continually hitting the brakes on the M50 when there’s no need to thus creating a chain reaction from behind. Lots of drivers don’t heed this warning. Overhead cameras should be used to pull in drivers and given a warning .
@Alan Scott: Or a helicopter with a bloke with a huge big stick to bash them in the head with
@A H:
Ok laugh on.
theres always enough Idiots to go around on the Journal.ie
The toll should be waived if there are delays.
@neuromancer:
Should the people causing the delay be fined to make up the lost revenue of the free tolling during delays?
@Nick Allen: the people who cause the accident should be banned from driving. And there should be spot checks on motorway behaviour. If someone is seen to not use the lanes and or speed properly they should be on a probation period where they have to be tested prior to be allowed go back on motorways.
People literally haven’t a clue.
@neuromancer: the toll should be doubled if they crash!!
Far too many design faults on this motorway. Most large cities have an outer/circular motorway (like the M25); we built half a circle and are suffering the consequences.
@Fank Pulman: You realise that one side of Dublin is the sea?
@Ben McArthur: Thus, a half circle wasn’t the answer…
@Fank Pulman:
What design faults on the M50 are leading to traffic jams on the M50?
@Richard Wright:
A tunnel from Blackrock to Sutton would be the Dogs
@Richard Wright: No. We were hooked on circles and/or half circles – as if there was no alternative. Few traffic problems in NYC for example – or Washington. And no circles/half-circles – just the grid system!¡
@Fank Pulman:
Few traffic problems in NYC? Have you ever been there? Have to ever got a taxi from JFK to the centre to NYC?
@Nick Allen: Yes to the 3 questions.
@Fank Pulman:
So if you have experienced NYC, how can you possibly say they don’t have traffic issues.
@Nick Allen: FFS – imagine the toll!!!
@Paul Furey:
Yes it maybe be a stiff toll alright
@Nick Allen: Lived in Manhattan. Traffic is not a problem – largely, I admit, because of people using taxis and the subway. Also – parking is at a absolute premium. But, can you not think of any alternative to the M50 semi-circle, like (say) a grid?
@Fank Pulman:
The M50 is great, yes there are some traffic jams at time but by and large it works very well. More disciplined drivers and a better public transport system would solve a lot of the issues on the M50.
@Nick Allen: Rough figures:- M50/28 miles/16 junctions. M25/117 miles/31 junctions – over 4 times as long, less than twice the number of junctions! The M50 tries to do too much!?
@Fank Pulman: no
@Fank Pulman:
M25 is also affectionately known as the largest car park in London.
That said the motorway network needs to be designed for the cities they serve. Fewer junctions in the M50 would only turn the M50 into a large Dublin bypass for people looking to avoid Dublin. The M50 needs to serve the people of Dublin to stop them using the city centre. If you reduce the access points you would reduce usage and also create new bottlenecks at the access points.
@Gareth Cooney: Fair enough – but the Federal Motorway 10, around Berlin (for example) – is the same length as the M25, with about the same number of junctions. Our M50 seems to have more than the norm¡
@Fank Pulman: it’s not the road, it’s idiot drivers!!!
@Lesley O Meara: Perhaps. The Peripherique(!) around Paris has a 45 mph limit! Vastly reduced accident levels.
@Jayo Breathneach: tks…didn’t know…
Footage of on board camera’s should be allowed to be uploaded to the Gardaí easily to prosecute drivers swerving in and out of lanes, tailgating etc. Send offenders a €90 fine, 2 penalty points and a link to the footage.
Keep it a secret, but there is a double lane duel carriageway type road running from Jobstown to Liffey valley completely under utilised, either this or get an amphibious car. I prefer the second option when going to Howth cause there’s no toll!
@Radioska: ssssssshaduuupp!
I do love my regular M50 news bulletins. Great crack
It’s Every day on the M50 we must have the worst Drivers if it’s not a brake down its a crash.
I think the National Roads Authority are proposing at peak times speed restrictions on all lanes north and south in effort to stop the relentless crashes that cause so much disruption.
@Austin Rock: unless it’s enforced all day every day it will be ignored.
If Gardaí given powers to enforce fines by using the existing camera technology on the M50 that would cut down a hell of a lot stupid road behaviour
@Shane Cormican: agree totally
Once summer is over it’s back to work from home from 08:00-9:30 (miss peak gridlock)and then head to office. Far more efficient use of time, more productive and way less hassle-Fully appreciate this scenario does not work for everyone.
have your say