Cnet has this wonderful piece about wasting time at the office. In fact, they've listed their top 10 time wasters. Meanwhile, The Scobleizer also has this insight on the new iPhone 3G which is prompting people to wait in line...for over a week. I want the new iPhone as badly as the next guy but come on now!
Photo by Notinet
This is a guest post by Craig Huggart. He is the author of Escape From Email Hell and blogs at Tech Rest.
How would John Rambo manage multiple email accounts? Isn't that the question that everyone is wondering as the latest installment in the Rambo movies hits the big screen?
Managing your email can feel like bailing water from a sinking boat. The water is coming in faster than you can bail it out. It's even worse when you have multiple Inboxes and you want to get them all to empty. So what can you do if you are like me and you have multiple email addresses that you use all the time? The answer is to consolidate all your mail into one desktop email application.
Why one place? It's so much easier to manage one big list than two or more smaller lists of email. Also, when you use one application all the time you can get lightning fast with it.
Why desktop application? Even with a fast internet connection, desktop apps are just faster. In addition, they have more robust integration with Calendar and Tasks.
How do you get it set up? I use Outlook 2007 and pull in my Gmail and Yahoo accounts via POP3. For details on how to set up Gmail see Setting up your Gmail with Outlook 2007. For Yahoo see Setting up your Yahoo mail with Outlook 2007. I paid about $20 USD for a pro Yahoo account. On the other hand, there are programs out there that will get you around this. If I had to do it over again I would probably stick with Gmail. I've just had my Yahoo address too long to make it easy to switch.
Why Gmail? It's got great *S*P*A*M filtering and the POP access is easy to set up. Also, you can set Gmail to archive all your read messages (see partial screen shot of the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab of Settings). So after I pull my messages into Outlook from Gmail, my Inbox in Gmail is empty. With Yahoo, I would have to manually more them. Yahoo users, if you know of a way to do this automatically let me know.
Why not IMAPP? I tried IMAPP and there were two things I didn't like. One, it downloaded ALL my messages to Outlook. Two, I didn't like having two separate lists in my Inbox when it was done. For those of you not familiar with IMAPP the big advantage is that it keeps your mail in sync when you access it from multiple places. So, for instance, you delete a message when you are reading your mail on you PDA and it would also be deleted from the server.
How about a portable solution? Thunderbird is a great email client. If you want a portable solution you might try putting Thunderbird on a thumb drive using Portable Apps. I use the Portable Apps version of Firefox and love it. With Thunderbird on a thumb drive you could have your desktop email client with you wherever you go.
How often to you check your email? If you work in a techcentric environment, this question may seem odd as email becomes akin to breathing, an unconscious act that continues throughout the day. I'd like to suggest that there is a pleasure to email that overchecking can dullen. Read on.
Email can be pleasurable when it's surprising, when it delivers an anticipated response or when it relaxes the reader. Unfortunately, when we check email over and over again, our sense of email pleasure softens, making email another mundane task that takes up our time.
Today's GTD Insight is very simple- check email several times during the day but don't overcheck. The GTD practitioner knows how to strike the balance between getting his work done and still enjoying the little things, like a piece of good news delivered via email.
I generally take some time each afternoon to process phone messages and wrap up any emails that need attention before I head home. If I need some background noise or am looking for some food for thought, I'll often listen to a podcast.
Modern Worker has a creative way of doing podcasts- he chooses a series of news stories and then talks off the cuff, sharing his ideas and relating the story back to some workplace principle.
D. Scott Miller has also created a fun series called "Inside the Youth Ministers Studio". Scott asks a series of interesting questions and relates the conversation back to ministry. Scott also interviewed yours truly when I was working in the Charm City.
My first PDA was the original Palm Pilot, before the company was forced to drop the "pilot" from their name. A greyscale screen and absolutely no curb appeal, that first PDA was like a diamond in my hand. The year was 1998.
Since then I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I've owned probably ten or so PDA's. I've dated HP's, Sony's, Handsprings and other Palm's and it's safe to say that I am now a connoisseur (translate: geek) of the personal digital assistant. Today, PDA's are making a comeback and reclaiming their rightful place in the productivity landscape. Sure, smart phones are cool and very useful, but a muscle-bound hand-held still turns heads.
Here are three new PDA's, introduced in the past few weeks, that are sure to make a splash:
HP Ipaq 210: running Windows Mobile 6 Classic, the sweet-screen PDA has arrived with great reviews, although a hefty size and $450 price tag might scare some folks off.
Apple iPod Touch: for around $300, you can grab an iPhone without the phone. Huh? Apple introduced one of the very first PDA's back in the 80's called the Newton so they're not totally unfamiliar with the market. The touch is feature-rich and of course has a very sweet interface.
HP Ipaq 110 Classic: slimmer than its older brother the 210, this $300 PDA should be popular with the mainstream crowd as it allows speedy web browsing via Wi-Fi.
Resources for the Road
Palm Centro is on the way: a $100 smart-phone?
iPod Touch guided tour
Cnet: Best 5 PDA's
If you have several work locations (home office, work office, etc.) and are trying to keep your commitments and priorities in check, an online calendar might be for you.
I've been experimenting with three of the best calendar systems out there, Airset, 30Boxes and the heavyweight, Google Calendar.
First, my gear & wish list:
What are the benefits?
How long does it take to learn how to use an online calendar?
Which one has the cool factor?
Which one has the biggest cult following?
Which has the WOW factor?
With all of this said, I'm into week two of my testing and evaluating of all three apps. How are you using online calendaring to get organized and effective?
This week one of my many email addresses is (strangely) not working anymore. It's caused me to rethink things like online security, simplicity and productivity. Let's see, as of today, I have several websites and email accounts. I'm not proud of this list and sadly, I'm probably "normal" when it comes to these sorts of things. What does concern me is the fact that more is not better and this week, more is quite awful.
In an effort to "save" one lost email address, I've migrated over to Gmail. I know that everyone and their neighbor loves Gmail but I never digged it as I hate looking at advertisements and found (still do) that Yahoo! email and calendar are more streamlined for my needs.
Is Gmail making a believer out of me? I like it's simplicity but can't get over the fact that I've lost my "favorite" email address, seemingly plucked from the internet and out of my world of productivity. And then there are those ads...
For now I'll stay in a sort of email-purgatory, waiting to work out a solution and in the meantime dating Gmail. Anyone have any advice?
I stumbled across BNET when they ran my LifeHack article 8 One Liners That Make a Difference. Since then, I'm happy to say that 8 One Liners is still the top business hack by more than double the 2nd vote getting article.
Some excellent features of BNET include:
What is especially welcome about BNET is it's creative use of top-line artwork. BNET is not overcome with ads that assault your eyes but is a rewarding site worth more than a few clicks.
I can remember my first PDA, one of the original Palm Pilots. With as much aesthetic appeal as a 1980's Dodge K-Car, the original Palm was clunky at best and featured more of the color gray than anyone should endure. Visual appeal aside, the original Palm struck a chord for many of us interested in getting more done in less time. It made sense then and still does today.
Now 10 years later, my PDA of choice is the Palm Treo 650. Having overcome an annual PDA-upgrade addiction (no counseling needed) by signing on with Verizon for two years, I now settle into using my Treo and wait patiently for something smaller and lighter.
Here's what I enjoy about my Treo:
From a productivity point of view, I can't really imagine a system without a PDA of some kind. Sure, I still couple my Treo with a FranklinCovey daily planner (which helps me to write things down and take notes faster), but my Treo is the heart of the operation.
On another level, the Treo helps me to free up my mind so that I can work on other things like building relationships and becoming a better person. To others out there who are also betrothed to their PDA, I say here's to you Mr. Palm Treo Person!
Resources for the Road
Slacker Manager: GTD for Palm
LifeHack: GTD with Palm and Mac
GTD Wannabe: Syncing Google Calendar with Palm
I have been working with a church in the DC area in order to better serve their student population. Our desire was to find a user-friendly way to get helpful information from several people groups. You guessed it- survey time!
We discovered a fantastic product called Survey Gizmo. I was able to set up an on line survey, with over 12 different styles of questions, in under 30 minutes. You're also able to generate multiple flavors of reports when all of your data is inputted. Finally, the connect-to-website feature is robust, allowing you the copy HTML into your site or just provide a link. I chose the latter and posted it here. I found Survey Gizmo easy to use and the interface is very slick. For me, it's a must-have app for my survey needs.
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