One of the things about using both OS X and iOS is that I try to make sure that every application that I use on both devices helps me to make sure I’m getting as much stuff done as possible.

That is to say that I want the work that I do on my phone to play nicely with the applications and the work that I do on my laptop and vice versa.

But one place in which I’ve had a hard time in getting things in a suitable state is with email. Regardless of what email strategies, clients, and all that other jazz that I’ve found, I’ve never really dug my workflow.

Until I found Dispatch.

Using Dispatch For Email

First, I use Airmail for email on my desktop. Aside from the shortcuts, I’m also a big fan of the predefined folders for helping keeping email in an actionable that. That is to say:

  • Messages in my inbox are things that I can take care of quickly
  • Messages filed in “To Do” are things that I will get to
  • Messages in “Done” are things that I’ve, y’know, done
  • Messages in “Memo” are things that I need to remember to take care of at some point

Each day, I go through these these lists several times to make sure that I’m on top of everything. But since this is a Gmail client, it does create its own set of labels within Gmail. This means that if you were to login to Gmail, you’d see a label for ‘Airmail’ and then several labels nested under that.

Similarly, if you use another mail client on, say, your phone or your iPad then you’re going to be create yet-another-set-of-labels for that client to manage its email.

If you’re a fan of keeping things as lean as possible, then this is one way in which things can get a little messy.

So enter Dispatch.

Dispatch EmailThe application uses no predefined filters and simply relies on the following actions:

  • Read or Unread
  • Starred
  • Archived
  • Select a label
  • and Trash

That second to last option – “Select a label” comes in really handy has you can file things under Airmail’s “To Do” label and it will then show up in Airmail as an action item that needs your attention.

Coming from a previous mail client, I thought I’d really miss the “Snooze” option, but I haven’t. Instead, this has made me a bit more proactive with my email. I either immediately respond, file it to do later, archive it, or trash it. There’s no snoozing to remind me later and I can leverage the existing labels that are found in Gmail (or Airmail) to handle a message when I’m back at my desk.

On top of that, for any given message in Dispatch, it interfaces with a number of different applications. For example, I can send any email to one of the following integrations that I’ve setup:

  • Calendar
  • Reminders
  • Things
  • Evernote
  • Messages and Message as PDF
  • Copy a Link
  • View The Source
  • …and more

So if you’re a fan of the “Getting Things Done” approach to as many things as possible in your online (and offline) then I highly recommend Dispatch. It’s been the first email client that works exactly how I’ve wanted with my existing way of, uh, getting stuff done on my mobile device and with the rest of the applications that I use on my desktop.