To?done is an untraditional to-do list webapp that forces you to act without conjuring up overwhelming, negative feelings. It’s a to-do list aimed to help you get things done based on how much time you’ve got on your hands. More »
Blog Archives
To?done Assigns You Tasks Based on Your Available Time [Productivity]
Posted on April 12, 2010
Mandatory Password Changes Costs Billions in Lost Productivity [Passwords]
Posted on April 12, 2010
Big enterprises that force their workers to change their access passwords on a regular basis, and adhere to complex rules when they do, might be their own worst enemy. At least that’s how Boston Globe editor Mark Pothier sees it, and he cites a Microsoft research paper as part of his argument against that and other seemingly perfunctory IT rules. We prefer using a solid root password and subtle variations to implement secure passwords, along with easy-but-secure browser tools. What does your own office require of your passwords, and do you think it helps or hurts? [Boston Globe via Gizmodo] More »
Three Microsoft Outlook Rules That Prioritize Your Email
Posted on December 11, 2009
Just like the rest of us, Outlook user Scott Hanselman gets too much email, and he’s come up with some rules that auto-prioritize incoming email into folders before he even looks at it. Scott uses Outlook at work, and messages from his co-workers inside his company are higher priority; also, he gets invited to a lot of meetings via Outlook. If this is similar to your situation, check out Scott’s strategy. He set up three rules which separate incoming email into 1.) messages that were sent directly to him (he’s in the To: field), 2.) messages he was CC:’ed on, 3.) messages from outside his company, and 4.) meeting invitations. Hit up Scott’s full post for step-by-step directions on how to set up these rules.
As always, your preferred email processing system depends on your situation. As a freelancer who doesn’t use Outlook, rarely gets meeting invitations, and almost always gets messages from outside my non-company, this strategy doesn’t work as well for me, but for a nine-to-fiver inside a corporate firewall, it makes a whole lot of sense. Thanks, Scott!
The Three Most Important Outlook Rules for Processing Mail [Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen]
Five Best Time-Tracking Applications [Hive Five]
Posted on September 20, 2009
Where does the time go? Whether you need to know for billing purposes or just want a better idea of how your work day is split up, you can always answer that question with a good time-tracking application.
Photo by judepic.
Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite time-tracking tool, and now we’re back with the five most popular time-tracking applications to help you track the time you spend on projects and tasks of every size. Whether you’re an old veteran of time tracking and are curious to see alternatives to your current system, or you’re new to the premise and curious to see what kind of apps people use, we’ve got five solid tools to showcase.
Klok (All platforms with Adobe AIR, Free)
Built with Adobe AIR, Klok is a lightweight and cross-platform tracking solution. You can create a hierarchy of projects and sub-projects in the task-management sidebar and then track the time spent on each by dragging and dropping them into the workflow for the day. While you can delve into the details of each block of time, simple adjustments like expanding the amount of time you’ve worked on a project is as easy as grabbing the edge of the block with your mouse and tugging it down.
Manic Time (Windows, Free)
One area of resistance many people have to using time tracking software is a fear that they’ll waste too much time actually plugging information into the system. Manic Time alleviates that fear by actively tracking what you’re doing on your computer to make tagging and analyzing your daily work flow simple. Your day is represented by three time lines: Activity (either on the computer or off), Applications (which were open), and Tags (your personal annotations to your work flow). Mousing over any of the three time lines gives you additional data about that moment on the time line and you can always pull up the statistics window to see your work patterns over time. Check out their video tutorials to see Manic Time in action.
SlimTimer (Web-Based, Free)
SlimTimer is a web-based tracking solution. Once you’ve signed up for a free account, you can begin creating new tasks you want to track. You track those tasks by flagging time you spend on them in the little pop-out time manager you see in the screenshot above or by keeping the SlimTimer web site open. You can add tags to your tasks in the management section of the SlimTimer site as well as share tasks with coworkers. If you’re concerned about using a web-based tracker and losing control of or flat out losing your data, you can export your time-tracking data or even have SlimTimer email you a backup once a week.
RescueTime (Windows/Mac, Free)
RescueTime aims to be the least intrusive time-tracker you’ll use. Rather than have you log each individual activity you do in a journal-style system, RescueTime monitors the web sites you visit and the applications you use. You can set goals in RescueTime based on a variety of factors, like how much time you want to spend doing certain tasks or how much time you want to dedicate to certain projects. RescueTime analyzes your computer usage and reports back to you on whether or not you’re meeting those goals. RescueTime takes a different approach from most time-tracking tools, so we’d definitely recommend reading their FAQ file for additional insight into how they handle time tracking.
Project Hamster (Linux, Free)
Hamster is a simple time-tracking tool for Linux-based systems. You enter tasks as they occur, and then you can categorize and sort them. When you’re done with a given task, you simply tell Hamster to stop tracking it. You can also set up a reminder system that will remind you to record what your current activity is every X number of minutes. One of the more interesting features of Hamster is the ability to shift how your day is defined. If you’re a night owl and do most of your work after hours, Hamster won’t slice your “day” in half at midnight just because the clock says it’s a new day.
Now that you’ve had a chance to look over the candidates for best time-tracking application, it’s time to log your vote:
Which Time-Tracking Application is Best?(answers)
Have experience with some of the applications in this week’s Hive? Can’t believe your favorite wasn’t included? Sound off in the comments.
Boost Your Brain’s Health with Loud Music [Mind Hacks]
Posted on September 2, 2009
Generally speaking, things that are good for you aren’t always the most enjoyable. But there are certain cases when being “bad” can actually help improve your health. Enjoy blasting your music, for example? Then you’re in luck.
Photo by rossinabossio.
A while back, we covered ten bad things that are good for you. Now London’s The Daily Mail is chiming in with some more “bad” habits that, if applied properly, can actually benefit you. We’ve already mentioned how swearing can help relieve pain, but the Mail also says that blasting loud music is a good way to stimulate your brain. (Your ear drums on the other hand? Probably not so much, so be careful!)
According to researchers at Manchester University, music fans are stimulating part of the inner ear known as the sacculus, which responds to the beat in music. This gives the brain pleasure and makes us feel good — during the music and afterwards.
[When loud music is playing,] the brain is stimulated into releasing feelgood hormones that make us calm, happy and responsive. So to trigger a dose of happy hormones on a Monday morning, you should, in theory, choose Black Sabbath over chamber music.
Just how loud should you play your tunes? The rag says that the above mentioned sacculus only responds to volumes above 90 decibels.
It’s not as though we didn’t already know that music can make you feel good, but who doesn’t appreciate a little science backing it up? Check out the full post to learn more about how playing video games, not making your bed, and other “bad” habits may be worth picking up.
Being Bad Is Good for You: Playing Blaring Rock Music and Skipping the Housework Can Actually Boost Your Health
[Daily Mail]
[Daily Mail]
Boost Your Memory Power with a 30-Second Eye Exercise [Mind Hacks]
Posted on August 8, 2009
Memory declines with age, but if you’d like to remember where you placed your keys well into your golden years, try implementing a 30-second daily eye exercise.
Video how-to site Howcast provides some tips on how to improve memory. Among the more simple suggestions is to start each morning out with an eye exercise. The goal is to get both sides of your brain to work together, achieved simply by moving your eyes side-to-side for 30 seconds before going about your day’s activities.
The video also suggests memorizing information on an empty stomach. Why? “The hormone that improves the memory is highest when the stomach is empty” (though we’d add that if you’re too hungry, you might not be able to focus at all).
Hit up the video for the full list of tips, then check out our previous post for an explanation on why ten minutes of daily chatter can also help improve your mind.
How to Improve Your Memory [Howcast]
Use Body Language to End Conversations with Chatty Coworkers [Distractions]
Posted on July 31, 2009
Talkative coworkers can be quite a distraction, not only do they not get their work done but they keep from you getting yours done too. Cut down on unproductive chatter with a simple body-language hack.
Photo by claudiogennari.
While detailing out a list of ways to save time in your office the produtivity-centric folks at Productivity501 shared a way to use your environment and body language to control the length of conversation. Their suggestion? Remove the guest chair from your office:
People are less likely to stay for a long time chatting if there isn’t a place to sit. You can keep a fold out chair nearby or borrow a chair from the conference room when necessary. If you stand when someone enters the room, you can easily signal for them to leave by sitting back down.
A significant change in body posture and returning to the position you were working in before being interrupted is a great way to signal that chit-chat time is over.
If you have a time-tested technique for keeping the lid on chatty coworkers, we’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
Office Timesavers [Productivity 501]
Use Macros to Control Your Computer with Your Voice [Speech Recognition]
Posted on March 25, 2009
Windows Vista only: The Vista for Beginners weblog walks through the process of setting up and using speech recognition macros that save you time by automating keystrokes with a voice command.
Their guide covers creating macros that can do anything from launching applications, sending batches of keystrokes, inserting blocks of text, or even creating aliases for some of the default commands that might be difficult to remember—a very useful read for anybody interested in making their computer do what they say.
For another take on the same topic, check out our must-read guide to controlling your PC with your voice, or if you’ve switched away from Windows you can make your Mac’s speech recognition work for you.
Enhance Windows Speech Recognition by Using Macros [Windows Vista for Beginners]
ManicTime Tracks Your Work Day [Downloads]
Posted on February 16, 2009
Windows only: ManicTime is a detailed time-tracking application for keeping tabs on where your workday goes. Get a handle on how you spend your time with tags, graphs, and reports.
If you were intrigued by previously reviewed RescueTime but were turned off by the idea of uploading all your data to the RescueTime servers, ManicTime offers a very similar set of tools but stores your data locally.
ManicTime runs as a background process and consumes very few resources. When open, ManicTime records which programs are open and what files they’re accessing. Even if you never plugged any input into it, the app would do a very thorough job telling you when you were working and what you were working on. There are three primary timelines in ManicTime: the activity line shows whether you were idle or active, the application line shows which applications were in use, and the tag line is for user supplied information about the work at hand. You can tag both idle and active blocks of time by simply highlighting them and applying the tag.
The ability to tag idle time adds a great deal of functionality to the application: you can tag time spent in meetings, making phone calls, or even time logged at the gym. The tag system makes it easy to keep tabs on what work you're doing for different projects and clients—an especially handy feature for people who spend all their time using a similar set of applications for nearly every task at work. You can graph user specified blocks of time based on a variety of parameters like the basic active/idle cycles, by applications, or tags to see how your time is spent. ManicTime is freeware, Windows only.
Three Plants that Give You Better Indoor Air [Workspace]
Posted on February 9, 2009
Kamal Meattle used three just three indoor plant species to increase oxygen, filter air, and boost general health at a a New Delhi business park. You too can use them to freshen your indoor space.
Meattle’s presentation at the TED 2009 conference details a large-scale success, using thousands of plants for hundreds of workers. In any living or working space, though, the three plants—Areca palm, Mother-in-law's Tongue, and a "Money Plant"—can be used to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, remove organic compounds, and generally filter and freshen the ambient air. A single person looks to need a minimum of 11 total plants, and certain climates with less sunlight could require a bit of hydroponic growing, but Meattle swears by the health, productivity, and atmosphere benefits. Check out the detailed slides from his TED talk:
Got your own plant combinations for better working or living air? Give up your greenery tricks in the comments.