Top 10 Organizational and Content Management Productivity Tools

admin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 22:38:29 +0000

BaseCamp – http://www.basecamphq.com/

basecamphq.com

This is not a necessary tool for most. I use it to set up my projects and to collaborate with my little team of people that work for me. The features this bad boy has are through the roof but, like I said, you don’t really need it if you’re running a one man shop. Another service from the same company that might be better suited as a personal option is Backpack. It’s roughly 1/3 rd the price of BaseCamp but boasts similar features

Evernote – http://www.evernote.com/

Evernote - one place for everything

Take Evernote away from most of the serious cloud warriors and they would not know what to do. Evernote holds the whole life of some of the most successful people I know. You can use the tool for free up to a certain amount of data – the paid version is like $5/month. They offer desktop clients for Mac, PC, iPhone and Android in addition to a webbased
client.
The web-based client us pretty good. The desktop client is really good. I have it installed across all my computers and it has never missed a beat in keeping all my stuff synced across them all. You can sync pictures, text snippets, PDF’s, screenshots and a whole bunch of other formats.
If you have the web based client, the desktop client and the iphone app you can seamless build your notes to refer to whenever you need content or ideas.

Google Docs – http://docs.google.com/

Google Docs

A perfect “Cloud” version of MS Office. Google Docs is my replacement for all desktop “Office” tools. They offer document creation, spreadsheets, a presentation tool and a very good dashboard to organize all your online documents. There are competitors to this tool like Box.net. Google Docs, however, is 100% free and does a mighty fine job filling in all my “Cloud Office” needs.

Memeo Connect – http://www.memeoconnect.com/

Memeo Connect

If, like me, you’re going to be doing most of your content work in Google Docs – Memeo is quite the “killer app”. Google Docs, by itself is, awesome but what Memeo does is offer you a better way of structuring all of your different pieces of content. Memeo also makes sure you can work while being offline.
You can write your content, edit spreadsheets or presentations without an Internet connection. Once you go online, Memeo will “sync” your changes and makes sure you have the latest versions available at all times. Wonderful service that works on both Macs and PC’s.

Dropbox – http://www.dropbox.com

Drop Box

Consider Dropbox as your personal Cloud. I use it to save copies of my important files, PDF’s and text files but you can put in anything you can imagine. By using Dropbox, you have a double advantage – you have back ups of the files in case something happens to your locally stored files and the second advantage is that you can access your files from any remote location. I recommend you sign up for a free account and start using Dropbox as your online file repository.

Google Reader – http://reader.google.com/

In order to stay on top of your NanoContext markets and niches, you’ll need access to an RSS client. There are a slew of RSS readers available. I use Google Reader because it’s simple and already integrated with my Gmail account. In the manual, I’ll show you a cool trick that will enable you to find all the good resources about a market using Google Reader.

Google Alerts – http://alerts.google.com/

Google Alerts allows you to receive newly indexed Google content about specific keywords in your mailbox. You can set up Alerts for just about anything. Keywords, URL’s, names and what have you. It’s the ideal way to stay on track with your markets – by setting up GA’s you’ll always know the “news”
immediately. It will become clear to you how we will put GA’s to use in the manual.

SmartSheet – http://smartsheet.com/

Smart Sheet

There are bundles of applications that you could SmartSheet for but the one reason I use it for is the seamless connection
with Amazon mTurk. Amazon mTurk consists of a pool of people that you can outsource small tasks to. SmartSheet takes the hassle out of
using the mTurk service. You just enter a task, a description and a budget into your SmartSheet Project – enable the
SmartSource function and your task gets presented to 1000’s of workers immediately.

Please note that, in order to use the SmartSource function, you’ll need to upgrade your account to a paid version.

12 Cloud-Based Tools to Stay Productive (justinrlevy.com)
The GDrive is here and its name is Memeo Connect (zdnet.com)
The Valley Girl Meets Memeo, The Startup Behind Google’s Free Online Hard Drive (businessinsider.com)

The Pomodoro Technique – how to massively increase your productivity

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:09:09 +0000

Distraction is a key productivity killer. Checking emails every 3 minutes. Facebook being one click away. YouTube bookmarked.

According to to Pomodorotechnique.com, “The Pomodoro Technique™ is a way to get the most out of time management. Turn time into a valuable ally to accomplish what we want to do and chart continuous improvement in the way we do it.”

Basically, it is a simple and effective way of managing your time while you are trying to accomplish a certain task.

How it Works

The Pomodoro technique is simple, and all you need to get started is some sort of timer.

Decide on a task, whether it be homework or studying.
Set a timer for 25 minutes.
Study your ass off for that 25 minutes.
Take a brief break. (Normally 5 min.)
Do this 3 more times.
After the fourth session, take a longer break.
Repeat if necessary.

To me, that little eBook became a real life-changer. I have since then recommended it to lots of people and the ones that took the advice in the eBook to heart benefited greatly from it.

The eBook is actually a totally free download

http://www.pomodorotechnique.com

In a nutshell – this is how The Pomodoro Technique works:
1. Choose a task you need to finish.
2. Set the Pomodoro (or a regular kitchen timer) to 25 minutes.
3. Work non-stop and ultra focused on the task until the timer rings. (some tasks will take multiple Pomodoros to complete)
4. Allow yourself a 5 minute break (step away from your desk is my personal recommendation)
5. Check off the task on a piece of paper once fully completed.
6. For every 4 completed Pomodoros – allow yourself a longer break.
All you need to do is study the eBook and get yourself a timer. (I bought one of those cool looking, genuine Pomodoros on Amazon – they are like $10)

I’m not going to go into detail about the Pomodoro Technique in this manual – all the info you need is on their website and Francesco does an awesome job explaining the philosophy behind his invention. The Pomodoro Technique is a must read and the 25 minute Pomodoros will be a tremendous help keeping your NanoContext efforts focused and consistent. Set up Pomodoros when creating blogs, writing content, running promotions, etc.

I promise you’ll get more done in less time. This is one killer Time Management solution that will not cost you loads of time (oh the irony!) learning how to implement. You can be up and running with this technique today. Go grab the eBook right now, it’s free but worth its weight in gold.

Pomodoro Apps

Maybe it’s just me, but I love a good computer app to help out with a given task, even if a simple timer will do the trick. Here are some of my favorites apps to get you started using the Pomodoro Technique.