Dear Lazyweb... Jill "xtingu" Knapp 8/3 '16

Gmail now has Exchange integration.

Not that this matters directly to my life, but it got me thinkin':


I use GMail for my personal email and my Hot Breakfast email. My Hot Breakfast email is provided by GoDaddy, but instead of reading it separately via GoDaddy's webmail, I just pull it into GMail and have it labeled "Hot Breakfast!" so I can see it easier and also filter for it.


My work (knapp-it.com) email is also hosted by GoDaddy, but the only way I read my KnappIT email is either by firing up a browser and using GoDaddy's interface, or by using a totally separate email app (K-9 Mail) on my phone. KnappIT and Gmail never touch. 


But now I'm wondering if I should re-examine that.


So... people who have both a personal email address and a work email address... what are some pros and cons to keeping them separate, or reading them all through Gmail?


One pro I can see is that Gmail lets me use a rich text editor on my phone that would come in handy for work-- right now if I need rich text for work I have to be sitting at a PC.  But a con would be that I wouldn't be able to easily say "I will not be at work after hours" if I have work emails coming into gmail after my US business hours. (I have lots of overseas students who use my videos. I don't always want to answer them at 9:30PM.) 


Thoughts?

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8/3 '16 8 Comments
Your work hours are not determined by technology, they are determined by you, the business owner. If you set the expectation that you are available between X and Y EST, that's when you're available, no matter when you get your email.

Hope that helps.
Love you!
Shelle Klein Houser
I'm really good about not dealing with work emails after hours, but that's because I let the technology act as a sliiiiiight barrier. If I don't wanna work after hours, I don't click on my phone's KnappIT email icon... or if I'm actually sitting at my comput0r, I simply don't go to my webmail page. But I have the sinking feeling that if I tell my KnappIT email to get sucked in via Gmail, I'm not gonna be able to resist. I'm gonna fall into that dumb ol' trap of "Aw, I can just knock this out real quick..." and the next thing I know I'm now working dumb hours.

I have shit for discipline, especially when it comes to helping people... and especially especially when it comes to overseas students who want to give me money overnight if I'd just send them an invoice (which I do not want to do at 10:30pm).

Blegh.
Jill "xtingu" Knapp
This just made me think about Gmail's capabilities and I might have a solution.

In Gmail's labeling/filtering capabilities, there is an option to bypass the Inbox during labeling. If you did this, then you would have your work emails within Gmail but not visible without clicking on the "Work Email" label, and hopefully avoiding the urge to work during off hours.

Let me know if I'm not being clear here. It is early, I haven't had any coffee yet, and my eyes are still half shut with sleep. :)
Matt Lichtenwalner
I think your cons outweigh your pros.
Lindsay Harris Friel
I think you're right.
Jill "xtingu" Knapp
I still keep them separate - but with a quirk:

I used OWA's settings to forward both a text to my phone and a copy of the email to my Gmail for Really Important Folks at the office.

It's a bit overkill for many folks, but I like knowing that there's no chance Ill miss that important message from Da Boss.
Matt Lichtenwalner
Hmmm. My KnappIT email isn't Exchange, but I wonder if my GoDaddy email has some functionality like that... if not, I wonder if IFTTT can do some magic without handing over the keys to the castle. Lemme think on this, but you're giving me ideas.
Thanks, yo!
Jill "xtingu" Knapp
No problemo! Hope it helps. :)
Matt Lichtenwalner