So: Welcome to the newsletter!
My goal, every week, is to send along an awesome tool that can help you, the reporter. Some tools will be very story-specific, and others will focus on making you a more productive storyteller. (Some tools will cost money, and I’ll make sure to note any costs/software requirements when applicable.)
Also, at the bottom of this email, I’m going to ask for a bit of help in making sure that I’m sending the right tools to you, my fellow reporters.
But first, here’s today’s tool!
Find Big Mail: Clean Up Your Inbox!
About six months ago, I looked down at this little number at the bottom of my Gmail window. I’d been using Gmail since 2005, and I hadn’t really been paying attention to the amount of space I’d been using.
Then I saw the number. It showed me how full my inbox was. I realized: I was starting to run out of Gmail space.
And I didn’t even know that was possible!
But seven years of sending giant files — videos, photos, audio of interviews — and it all kind of added up.
And if you hit your 10 GB limit, Gmail will start bouncing messages. Yikes!
So what’s the answer to cleaning up your Gmail account? Find Big Mail is a free tool that does exactly what it sounds like: It finds the really big files in your inbox, and it organizes them into folders so that you can get rid of them (if you want to).
It’s also an excellent way to find all of the random photos and big files that you just can’t seem to find when searching within Gmail the old fashioned way.
And it’s free!
If you pair Find Big Mail with those Gmail tools I’ve already sent you — Rapportive and Boomerang — you’ll have three excellent ways to get your inbox a little more organized.
The Big Question
I want to help everyone on this listserv build the perfect toolbelt. So here’s a question: What single tool (or set of tools) do you desperately need?
Send me your answer, and at the end of the month, I’ll send out an email to the entire listserv highlighting the tools we dig up.
And I’ll make this promise to you: If you need help finding a tool, just reply to this email and I’ll do my best to help you find it.
Now get out there and tell some great stories today!