Fall in Love With Google Again

Google Apps for Work is a popular communications platform for many real estate companies as well as individual brokers and agents due to the plethora of add-ons, extensions, and tools. Get your Gmail inbox organized and stay on task with these free solutions:

Send From Gmail
If you’re a Microsoft Outlook user in addition to your Gmail account, you’ve likely noticed that your computer defaults to opening your Outlook whenever you click on a person’s email address online. If you’d rather default to your Gmail account, try this Google Chrome extension: Send From Gmail. Once you install the extension in your browser, each time you click on an email address in Chrome it will automatically open a compose email window in Gmail with the email address already filled.

UglyEmail
Would you like to know which messages in your inbox are being tracked by the sender? UglyEmail puts a big hairy eye (OK, the eyeball isn’t hairy, but it is a big icon) on any email where the sender is requesting information back about what you do with the email. I can place my cursor over the eyeball to see what tracking service the message was sent from and then decide if I really want to open it and add my actions to the sender’s dataset.

Any.Do
I’m a list person, and I usually have many in play at any given time. I use Any.Do to manage to-do lists online. The best part about this extension and app is that I can add an email directly to a list right from Gmail. I can also set date and time reminders in just two clicks, as well as drag and drop other list items, add notes, attach files, and create sub-tasks under a list item. I love this program for recurring tasks at work, too.

StayFocusd
We all suffer from a little internet ADHD. But if you’re checking your Facebook every two minutes, your productivity is likely to suffer. StayFocusd is a great tool for time management. This Chrome extension allows you to can set up time-block restrictions on certain websites where you find yourself wasting hours. Or set a maximum time limit on certain sites, and once you’ve met that allotment, that site will be inaccessible for the rest of the day. The tool is highly customizable, allowing you to block an entire site or specific pages. You can even set up content-type blocking, like videos or games.  

Checker Plus for Gmail
If you hate having too many open tabs in your browser, but want to keep an eye on your Gmail, try Checker Plus, a Chrome extension that lets you read or listen to new email messages without opening Gmail. The mail icon sits in the toolbar of your Chrome browser window, and you can click on it for a pop-up view of your new messages. It can also keep tabs on multiple email accounts at once.

Pushbullet
Apple users have long enjoyed integration between devices through iMessage, Airdrop, FaceTime, and more. Now Android users can get all the same features and more with Pushbullet, a robust app that not only allows you to text from your computer but also lets you make and receive calls, open and share files with your phone, and handle notifications you receive on your phone from your office computer.