Could desktop email be better for you than Gmail?

Your options for email are endless

Accessibility is nearly everything in the world of communication. It is second only to ease of access—a concept of communication that, despite its necessity, is still lost on many email providers (Microsoft, we’re all looking at you). On an ease of access scale of Outlook to mobile notifications, desktop email holds its own.

Desktop notifications are inherently helpful, but they are especially attractive if you use Gmail. The recent merge between Google, YouTube, and several other web-based services makes signing out of one account and into another an exercise in frustration, at best.

If you are a freelancer, manager, or even an entrepreneur, chances are that you run into this problem frequently. Mobile apps are useful in that they consolidate notifications, but no one wants to answer a dozen emails from an iPhone.

Desktop email has its advantages

When you employ a desktop service, you enjoy several improvements to the above system:

• All of your emails are in one place at one time
• Answering your emails is as easy as a click—no account switching or other time-consuming finagling
• Advanced organizational tools often trump those of web services
• Email back-up and offline accessibility services keep your information handy and safe

If you are an active user of Gmail, you probably understand that one does not simply have one Gmail account. It’s easy to forget about an email or three in a secondary account, or to neglect an account entirely. Desktop email takes care of “the one that got away”, as well as any secondary or unimportant email you may receive.

So what’s the catch?

Desktop email is still obtrusive. Call me old-fashioned, but I like the “separation of church and state” aspect of keeping my email and other online stuff away from my desktop.

Furthermore, obsessive email-checkers will note that desktop notifications, while far more efficient than they were at their conception, are still finicky at times; if you get stressed out at the prospect of not physically viewing your Gmail page while working, desktop notifications will simply get in the way of your offline productivity.

The bottom line is this:

If you are busy, unorganized, and in need of a change, desktop clients for your email may be the jump-start you need; if you are unsure of whether or not you should try a desktop client, it can’t hurt, and you might be pleasantly surprised; otherwise, your current email provider will more than suffice.

Unless you’re still using and old version of Outlook, in which case even God can’t help you.

#EmailChoices