This is one of my all-time favourite tricks in Gmail.

Let’s say your email address is: testytesterson(at)gmail(dot)com

By adding a point (i.e. fullstop or period), you can create any number of alternative addresses - all of which will work with your current Gmail account.

For example:

• testy.testerson(at)gmail(dot)com
• t.estytesterso.n(at)gmail(dot)com
• t.e.s.t.y.t.e.s.t.e.r.s.o.n(at)gmail(dot)com

Essentially Google just ignores the points. This is apparently known as “dot blindness”.

So, why is this handy? Well, it means you can trick other services (such as Twitter) into allowing you to sign up for multiple accounts, without needing to set up multiple email accounts!

See now, why that is absolutely awesome?! Try it for yourself.

My other favourite Gmail trick involves the + symbol. (Google it).

Disclaimer 1: I can’t claim this method absolutely works every single time, in every single type of lift (or elevator, if you swing that way), but it has worked for me all of the twenty or so times I’ve tried it.

Disclaimer 2: It could be argued that using this method is a little bit selfish! Therefore, my recommendation is you only employ it when you’re truly in a hurry. (Obviously you don’t need to heed that recommendation - you are your own person).

Without further ado:

To make the lift go directly to whichever floor is your destination, without stopping at all the other floors along the way, simultaneously press the “floor” button and the “close doors” button. Your ascent/descent should be uninterrupted!

I’d be interested to know whether this works for others. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve spouted complete rubbish, so please feel free to share your experiences, successful and otherwise.

Genius Scan

by The Grizzly Labs

£1.99 for full version (free version available) 

This is an incredibly handy app and, as far as I can tell, not particularly well-known (it currently has just 53 ratings in iTunes). I use it very regularly, especially as I’m currently trying to live as “paperlessly” as possible, and it works really well for me.

Here are five reasons why you can’t be without it:

• It turns your iPhone into an on-the-go scanner (particularly effective if you have a newer model with the better camera), auto-selects the edge of the scanned area ready for cropping, and then auto-enhances the image - though both of these things can be done manually too.

• Scanning can be done inside the app using the camera (with or without flash), or by importing from the camera roll. 

• You can save the scanned image as a JPEG or a PDF. The latter is invaluable for stitching together several scanned images into one handy document, right inside the app.

• You can then send your scan directly to the printer, email it, or upload it to your Box account, Evernote account, Expensify account, Google Drive, Twitter, Facebook and other apps. The app keeps a record of your successful uploads. They’ve recently introduced WiFi sharing, which I’ve yet to try, allowing you to access documents from your computer.

• You can also save and store scanned documents inside the app itself (though I don’t), and sort them by date or alphabetically, and you can copy images into the iPhone’s camera roll if you want to.

This app is a complete bargain at £1.99 - plus there’s a free version, to convince you if you’re not quite sold yet. I’m really grateful to the developers for designing this little nugget, and they seem to release updates pretty regularly which is always a good sign.

Let me know how you get on if you try or use this.

I’m giving it ★★★★★

(Let’s take a moment to appreciate the incredible pun that forms the basis for this entire operation. OK, we’re done).

My obsession with productivity borders on ironic. The amount of time I spend thinking about and planning how best to utilise my time and “get things done” is often at the expense of actually getting anything done.

That said, over the years I have amassed a somewhat impressive arsenal of genuinely helpful and time-saving methods for staying organised, and this blog is essentially an archive of my “research”.

Thank you for visiting, and I hope you find at least one thing here that helps you to be even a little bit more productive. If not - well then this blog would have served as a bit of a productivity-killer. And the irony lives on.

Vicky