Apple on Google: Gmail

Last week I posted about the valuable role of the iOS mail app. In more of a philosophical note on email, I like to compartmentalize my accounts. Particularly on my iPhone, I don't like to have my happiness disturbed by a work-related email while checking my personal Gmail for Facebook notifications or other enjoyable nonsense. The fact that the iOS Mail app automatically checks all of your added accounts, and can blend them into a All Mailboxes feed, makes it difficult to avoid such disturbances. So, instead of adding those work accounts, which in my case are also Gmail-based, to the Mail app, I prefer the Gmail app (free), which just got a very nice makeover from Google. In this way, I have to deliberately rather than accidentally check those email accounts. Not that my work is that stressful, I actually love it, it's just important to be present in the other aspects of life.

The new Gmail app has been praised for its minimalist design and light font choices, and it is indeed pretty pleasing! I also like that you can easily sign in from multiple accounts and switch between them.

The Gmail app. Facilitating my Zen. Except when I cave to an impulse to check it at the wrong time. 

Notice.

People may mistake my enthusiasm for the potential of technology with a desire to spread the message that our lives, both work and personal, should be tech-infused all the time.  Though I struggle myself with balancing high- and no-tech, and there's the whole "those who can't do..." thing at work here, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge how important it is that we regularly Notice our analog friends, family, neighbors, and, of course, students. Erik Raj recently wrote a wonderful post on tuning in to the parts of our job that make us happy, and you should check it out.

On my part, this post may seem out of the blue, but I do have a Zen streak to me, and I was actually inspired by two TED talks I watched at the gym this morning.  If you don't know about TED (it stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design), it is a series of events in which people from all disciplines give short, inspiring talks.  It is also, naturally, an app and website. TED really gives us a LOT to think about, and certain talks could also serve as a therapy context given their real-world and multimodal nature (a good opportunity to use graphic organizers to break down information).

Don't think I don't recognize the irony and contradiction of writing a post that advocates for focusing on the present moment related to the use of an app, all prompted by my utilizing said app while working out (hey, it was a warmup). Also, as I was writing this post, and I am not kidding, my mother called me, I received a text from a friend, a Google Chat message from a different friend because I had that open in a tab, and both a Facebook and Twitter notification, all at the same time.  Couple solutions: don't have multiple tabs open in your browser, and minimize notifications so you can check services when you want to, and not be constantly interrupted by them (one example). Anyway, despite all those levels of concentration/distraction, the meaning got through to me, and I hope these two brief talks are meaningful to you as well.







(Google Reader or email peeps, please click through to the post to see the videos)