Official Blog
Built in the cloud. Engineered for your enterprise.
Gaining Altitude: Productivity in the Cloud
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Editor's note:
As part of a new series,
Gaining Altitude
, we’ve invited well-known productivity experts and thought leaders to provide their perspectives on managing information overload and tips for success in a world where real-time communication and overflowing inboxes have become the norm.
Our first guest post is about Gmail’s new Priority Inbox by David Allen, widely recognized as a leading authority on personal and organizational productivity. He has been named one of the "Top 100 thought leaders" by Leadership magazine and Fast Company hailed him as "one of the world's most influential thinkers" in the arena of personal productivity. He is the author of three books: international bestseller, Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity ("GTD" as the method is popularly known), Ready for Anything, and Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life.
The volume of email we’re experiencing is a great boon for mankind. In addition to providing chronic complainers with content to justify their lamentations, it’s forcing us to confront our need for a behavior that’s fundamental and necessary to sanity in the modern world. We actually need to decide what stuff means to us when it shows up rather than when it blows up.
That doesn’t mean that people are automatically and naturally stepping up to the plate. There’s still an almost universal resistance to doing what’s required to keep a minimal backlog of unprocessed inputs. I’ve seen more than 40,000 emails in one inbox. But the pain is mounting, and the cry for solutions grows louder.
Google has taken an interesting and potentially important step in coming to the rescue with the new Priority Inbox functionality they’ve added to Gmail. At first it seems like a practical little enhancement for traditional email management. And when I first got wind of what they had done, my first reaction was, “Oh no, not another way to just keep rearranging and avoiding making decisions or actually doing something!”
But after examining what they’ve done, I have to admit that it’s actually part of a really big idea. (Are these Googlers aware of just how big an idea they’re playing with...dunno!) It’s not a complete solution, but I think it’s an important step. They’ve begun to address two key things in how we manage our focus: (1) what kind of attention should I be paying to something, and (2) once I’ve put that attention on it, what do I do with it?
These are decisions – important ones, to maintain a manageable quota of relevant things in your life. And decision-support is one of the bright open vistas for technology. What attention should I give something to begin with? And once I’ve decided what something means, where do those kinds of things go?
Priority Inbox provides a simple way to determine and filter what email inputs I should pay attention to first, a way to group inputs that need dedicated time and focus, and a way to park the “if I have time and feel like it & might want to do something with…” stuff. It’s also not dictator-ware. You have the ability to customize these simple but important front-end sortings, based upon how you think and work.
For those of you who already are familiar with my
Getting Things Done
best practices, the new Priority Inbox provides an additional tool for dealing with email efficiently. For someone who is simply lost when it comes to navigating the sea of email overload, it provides a simple but elegant starting point toward the only viable solution: rapid clarification and categorization of potentially meaningful input.
The jury is still out on the effectiveness of the sexy, fuzzy logic Gmail has embedded to determine the importance of emails coming to you, but they’ve made a very cool step in the direction of a big, important idea.
Posted by Ashley Chandler, Google Apps Team
Labels
#innovationupgrade
#InspireGirls
#moregoogleapps
#SysAdminDay
#tbt
#throwbackthursday
#top10trust
100% web
50states
ad contest
add-ons
admin
Admin console
admin sdk
AirPlay
Android
Android for Work
Android for Work Live
Android Marshmellow
Android Nougat
Android security
Android security tips
Apps Adventures
apps script
apptuesday
Armed Forces Day
Asia Pacific
Atmosphere Live
Audi
Audi Connect
audit
Australia
big data
Big Query
bigquery
Boston
browser
Chomebox for Meetings
Chrome
Chrome Device Management
Chrome digital signage
Chrome for Business
Chrome for Work
Chrome Frame
Chrome OS
Chromebit
Chromebooks
Chromebooks for Business
Chromebooks for Education
Chromebooks for Work
Chromebox for digital signage
Chromebox for meetings
Chromebox for signage
Chromeboxes
Chromecast
City 24/7
Classroom
Clearing Kosovo
Cloud
cloud computing
cloud computing gonegoogle
cloud computing gonegoogle Google Apps
cloud computing gonegoogle Google Apps google docs small business success story
cloud computing gonegoogle Google Apps google docs small business success story switch
cloud datastore
cloud platform
Cloud Platform Live
cloud print
cloud series
cloud services
cloud sql
collaboration
Colorado
Connectors
contacts
Control Panel
customer
customer love
Customer story
Customer support
Customer testimonial
data centers
data processing amendment
data protection
Developer
developers
Digital Learning Day
Docs
documents
DPA
Drawings
Drive for Education
drive sharing
Earth
earth and maps
EC
education
Education on Air
EMC
EMM
Energy
enterprise
EU
events
FedEx
Fedex.com
Finance
Firebase
Forms
franchises
GAFE
Gartner
GE
geo
Global Partner Summit
gmail
Gone Google
gonegoogle
Google AdWords
Google App Engine
Google Apps
Google Apps Blog
Google Apps for Business
Google Apps for Education
Google Apps for Government
Google Apps for Work
Google Apps Marketplace
Google Apps Reseller
Google Apps Script
Google Apps Vault
Google BigQuery
Google Calendar
Google Calendar app
Google Certified Teachers
Google Chrome
Google Chromebases
Google Classroom
Google Cloud Datastore
Google Cloud DNS
Google Cloud Platform
google cloud storage
Google Cloud Vision API
google commerce search
Google Compute Engine
Google Doc
Google Docs
Google Domains
Google Draw
Google Drive
Google Drive for Work
Google Earth
Google Earth Engine
Google Earth Enterprise
Google Earth Images
Google Earth Pro
Google Email Security and Archiving
Google Enterprise
Google Enterprise Search
Google Expeditions
Google for Education
Google for Education Partner Program
Google for Education Training Center
Google for Entrepreneurs
Google for Work
Google for Work and Google for Education Partner Program
Google for Work partner program
Google Forms
Google Green
google groups
Google Hangout
Google Hangouts
Google I/O
Google Keep
Google Maps
Google Maps API
Google Maps APIs
Google Maps Coordinate
Google Maps Engine
Google Maps Engine Pro
Google Maps Engine public data program
Google Maps for Business
Google Maps for Work
Google Maps Gallery
Google Maps Tracks API
Google Message Continuity
google message security
Google Mobile Device Management
Google My Maps
Google My Maps Pro
Google Places API
Google Play
google play for education
Google Prediction API
Google Research tool
Google Science Fair
Google Search Appliance
Google Security Key
Google Sheets
Google Site Search
google sites
Google Slides API
Google Smart Lock
Google spreadsheets
Google Springboard
google storage
Google Storage for Developers
Google Translate
Google Vault
Google Video
Google Wave
google+
Google+ api
Google+ Communities
googlenew
government
GSA
GSA 7.0
GSA for Commerce
guest post
HALO Trust
Hangout on Air
Hangouts on Air
HEAT
hints and tips
HIPAA
Inbox
Inbox by Gmail
innovation
international trade
Internet Explorer
intranet
io2011
iOS
iPad
IT
K-12
Kubernetes
large business
MAM
manufacturing
Mapping a better world
marketplace
marketplace highlights
mashups
MCCs
MDM
medium business
migration
mobile
mobile management
model contract clauses
moms
Mother's Day
mpstaffpick
MyHEAT
NAVMAN
new features
news
Niagara International Transportation Technology Coalition
non-profit
noteworthy
offline
OpenID Connect
Parters
partner
Partner Showcase
partners
Place Summaries
Postini
privacy
product ideas
productivity
Quickoffice
Receptionist's Day
reports
Reseller
retail
RSA
Safer Internet Day
SBW2013
SBW2014
sbweek
SCCs
Search
Security
Security Key
small business
Small Business Week
Small businesses
SMB
spam and security trends
Startups
success story
support
switch
System Admin
T Dispatch
Teamwork 2015
Thanksgiving
Transport and Logistics
Trust
UK
university
University of Calgary
Updates
utilities
Veteran Owned Businesses
Veterans Day
Veterans Day 2013
Veterans Day 2014
viewpoint
VNX
wallet
webinar
webmaster
Winter
women in tech
Women's History Month
Work Resolutions
World Bank
Archive
2016
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2015
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2014
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2013
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2012
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2011
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2010
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2009
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2008
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2007
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2006
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
Feed
Google
on
Follow @gsuite
Useful Links
G Suite
Gmail
Hangouts
Calendar
Google+
Google Drive
Google Maps
Google Cloud Platform
