Thursday, September 8th, 2011
This is the 4th and final post in Pepper’s Virtual Teams Series. In case you’ve missed the first three posts, you can check out What is a Virtual Team, How to Effectively Work with a Virtual Team, and Online Collaboration Tools for Virtual Teams.
 Everything has an upside and a downside, and this includes working with virtual teams. Being part of one, I can objectively list down the benefits and challenges of doing things the virtual way.
Benefits of working with a Virtual Team
- You can work with the best set of skills – Because virtual work is not limited to a geographical time and space, you can choose to hire the best person for the job, no matter where they are in the world. Even if they are scattered all over the globe, your team members’ skills and expertise are still available to you.
- Lower overhead costs – Since your staff is not physically in the office or your place of business, you can save on office space, rent, equipment, utilities, and other costs that go with renting, leasing or owning physical property.
- Flexible team scheduling – Work hours are more flexible for those who work with virtual teams. Members can choose their hours as long as they deliver on the tasks assigned tot hem. As long as schedules, leaves, and days off are pre-arranged and agreed upon, team members can enjoy the benefits of flexible work scheduling.
- Reduced Commute Time – You and your virtual team need can avoid the rush hour commute to work. Since less time is wasted on commuting to and from the office, you can devote more of your day to actual work. On top of this, you get to save on gasoline, parking, and other transportation costs.
- Work life balance – Your team can have a better quality of life with a balanced work schedule. The flexible schedule allows them more quality time for themselves, not to mention their spouses and children.
- Work measures become more reliable – Since there is minimal to no actual physical interaction, work metrics need to be used to determine just how much work is done. This is a more accurate way of measuring work results than the showboating that sometimes occurs in offices because you see results that are based on set quantitative metrics.
Challenges of a Virtual Business
- A lot of room for misinterpretation – Since interaction is done in a virtual work environment, it is harder to express and read emotions accurately. Emotions and expressions that cannot that we usually read well during face to face interactions are not as easily read through messaging, email, or phone conversations.
- More challenging to visually represent thoughts and ideas – Let’s face it – gathering people in front of a whiteboard is one of the most efficient methods of brainstorming and communicating ideas. With no (or limited) face to face conversations, we have to rely on online programs or tools, and sometimes, these limit the visual presentations that an excited team member may have regarding a project plan or idea.
- Team members may not be as transparent – Team members may not readily level with the other members regarding their project issues or difficulties. Granted, this is also a problem with physical offices, but it’s a lot easier to hide when your interaction with others is limited to online tools.
- Time Zone Management — This is almost a given. While working in different time zones allows you to work around the clock, having people spread across multiple time zones also poses a scheduling challenge.
- Fewer Opportunities to Bond Away From Work – Team rapport is harder to build when there is no option for the members to have a bottle or two for the road when the work day ends. Activities that build camaraderie such as break time conversations or meal breaks that serve as bonding time are not available to virtual teams.
- Over communication becomes a work standard – In the virtual environment, it is better to communicate, clarify, and confirm everything to make sure that all members have the same understanding about the task at hand. This produces of ton of paperwork and files that could quickly fill your archives.
We’ve walked you through the what, the why, and the how to make virtual teams effectively work for you. If you ask me, the biggest advantage of having a virtual team is the resource pool of talent, skills and varied expertise that each member of the team brings with them, that you can readily access from behind that virtual work space. Perhaps you can add to our list of pros and cons, or share with us your personal experience of having worked with a virtual team.
Having read this series, and maybe even some more of Pepper blogs and client testimonials, do you think a Pepper virtual team can help you do your business better and faster?
Tags: pepper, productivity tools, series, virtual teams
Posted in Outsourcing, Productivity Toolkit | 9 Comments »
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011
This is the 3rd post in Pepper’s Virtual Teams Series. In case you’ve missed the first two posts, you can check out What is a Virtual Team and How to Effectively Work with a Virtual Team.
 An important aspect of effectively managing virtual teams is the collaboration that goes into the work. Many online tools are available for seamless communication and coordination so that the virtual team manager is always on top of every team member’s tasks, schedule, and work results.
Here are some of the useful online collaboration tools for virtual teams:
Basecamp – Pepper uses Basecamp, an online collaboration tool which can be used to effectively manage projects, tasks lists and team communication. Less complicated than other collaboration tools, Basecamp is easy to use to optimize workflow and project management. For the virtual team manager, the dashboard feature of Basecamp is useful for tracking work progress, messages, file uploads, and work time logged by each member.
Skype – Another communication tool staple for Pepper is Skype. With its simple and easy to use features, not to mention, FREE features, it has now become the standard for voice calls over the Internet, as well as chat, video conferencing and file transfers. Skype is free to use for just about every operating system and mobile device. Skype can be used for training, client calls, daily meetings, and screen sharing.
Google Docs – If you have a Gmail/Google Account, you can make use of Google Docs for free online spreadsheets and document management. The spreadsheet feature is particularly useful when you need to have multiple people working on the same spreadsheet at the same time. It may not have all the features of Microsoft’s Excel, but it’s very useful for collaborative editing of documents (including text files). Work files that need collaborative work by multiple members such as domain management, financial reports, feature suggestions, performance appraisals, directory lists and online resources can be managed with Google Docs.
Dropbox – Dropbox is tool that allows online file sharing. Team members can create their own accounts and invite other members for file sharing. Whenever you add something to your Dropbox folder it will automatically update to the other people that you shared the folder with (or another computer that you might use at home). Sharing training materials, files and back up documents is made easy, and is readily accessible from multiple computers.
Jing Project – For collaboration that needs screen or video capture, Jing allows voice annotation that can help you easily explain something. All you have to do is upload the capture to Screencast.com and it will send a link for the members to view. Just like Skype, Jing is free to use except when you want to make use of advanced features. This online tool is perfect for graphic or design collaboration or any communication that needs visual and vocal instructions.
There are many other online collaboration tools and programs available for virtual team management, and you may choose to use tools other than the ones we’ve recommended here. What tools do you prefer, and why? Please share them with us in the comments.
Before we end this though, we’d like to remind you that there is another post in the series. We hinted at it in the last post, and now we’d like to introduce the next topic: The Pros and Cons of Working with a Virtual Team. Come back soon to learn more!
Tags: Basecamp, Docs, Google, Jing, pepper, productivity tools, series, Skype, virtual teams
Posted in Outsourcing, Productivity Toolkit | 11 Comments »
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
This is the 2nd post in Pepper’s Virtual Teams Series. Before reading on, we suggest you check out the first post in the series, What is a Virtual Team. You can also read the next post in the series, Online Collaboration Tools for Virtual Teams.
 Communication and collaboration are two key success factors of effectively managing virtual teams, and ultimately, making the team work efficiently for you.
Virtual teams are linked together by communication technologies that allow them to interact electronically by email, instant messaging, and Voice over IP technologies like Skype. For US based businesses, an internet-based telephone service (VoIP) is an essential tool for real time communication. Conferences can be done through telecons and video conferencing as well.
Managing virtual teams effectively and efficiently
If you’re the leader of a virtual team, keep in mind that you’re managing a set of individuals with different personalities and eccentricities. More often than not, they will be working from different time zones, at different hours. For virtual teams to work effectively, the virtual team leader should:
Set clear team goals and objectives – make sure that each team member has completely understood and accepted project goals.
Define work responsibilities and accountabilities of each member – team members should be clear with each member’s role, and how a member’s inaction or delay can affect the work that the other members are responsible for.
Supplement team conferences with one-on-one time with each member – regular online meetings should be followed up with individual discussions with each member of the team. This ensures that each member is clear with project goals and timelines. Individual issues and questions that are of a more personal or confidential nature can be addressed during this time.
Make each team member feel his or her ownership in the project – A sense of ownership leads to commitment and focused action. Allow collaborative effort for team members by involving the whole team in the decision making processes that need consensus and commitment. Set group goals and do regular group discussions of possible solutions and outcomes.
Ensure seamless communication lines – make sure there are no blocked lines of communication and each member of the team is kept fully informed of all developments at all times.
Strengthen team rapport and camaraderie within the virtual team environment – make it a point to incorporate team building activities and opportunities for extra social time with each other into your schedule. The benefits for your team are invaluable. Among other things, this smoothens relationships among team members and encourages open lines of communication.
These are just some tips that can help you effectively manage and get the most out of your virtual teams. Working with virtual teams can be a challenge, but also provides several benefits, both tangible and intangible – but this is a topic for a future post.
For the next post in the series, we’ll discuss collaboration programs or software that can further help you manage your teams and ensure seamless coordination on project goals and timelines. Until then, do you have any tips for effectively working with a virtual team? Share them in the comments.
Tags: pepper, productivity tools, series, virtual teams
Posted in Outsourcing, Productivity Toolkit | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011
 Purpose, people, and links – these are the three main aspects of a virtual team. Purpose, being the most critical aspect among the three, is what links the virtual team together. This purpose is defined by individual tasks that result to a common goal.
The number of organizations and businesses that choose to work with virtual teams is growing. This is primarily because virtual teams defy time and geography, providing continued productivity across multiple markets and varying time zones.
If you’re considering hiring a virtual team for your business, this series of posts will walk you through the whats, whys, and hows of making your virtual team work effectively for you.
WHAT is a Virtual Team
A virtual team, or what some call a GDT (geographically dispersed team), is a set of people working on the same project but not in the same physical location at the same time. With many companies going global and doing business in multiple locations and time zones all at the same time, setting up virtual teams is fast becoming a reliable way of ensuring that projects get done in a timely and efficient manner.
WHY work with a Virtual Team
Put simply, the main benefit of setting up a virtual team is increased productivity with the use of expert skills at a cost lower than having a physical work force.
Benefits of a virtual team to your business
- Increased productivity – with a virtual team, work on the project is not limited to the traditional 9-5 work day schedule. In fact, your business will never have an off hour because the team member on the other side of the globe can simply pick up where the other team member left off. You are assured of round-the-clock coverage by team members working across different time zones. This translates to faster time to market for new products and services of your business.
- Extended market opportunity – with work teams located in different parts of the globe, your business is able to directly access different market opportunities in a wider scale. Your business will be able to establish worldwide presence to customers and markets. For small business owners, this is added competitiveness on a global scale, without being limited to a particular customer base.
- Knowledge transfer – a virtual team is a pool of skills and talents from around the globe. You are able to choose and work with the best talents and skills you need regardless of your business’s physical location. With uninterrupted communication and online interaction, each member provides easy access to a virtual pool of knowledge. Members from the west can benefit from what the easterners have to say. Definitely, each member of the team brings along with him or her all the competencies and know-how from his or her part of the world.
- Lower overhead costs – You cut down on office overhead costs when team members work from their own locations. With a virtual team, you need not invest on office space, rent, utilities, equipment, and even the usual employee compensation and benefits. Additionally, you have the benefit of cost effective and flexible resource scheduling – you can scale up or down depending on what your business needs.
Having a virtual team that you can rely on allows you to focus on the more important aspects of your business’ development. Of course, this only holds true if you can work with your virtual team effectively. We’ll tackle this in the next post in the Pepper Virtual Teams Series. Stay tuned!
Check out the next posts in the Pepper Virtual Teams Series: How to Effectively Work with a Virtual Team and Online Collaboration Tools for Virtual Teams.
Tags: pepper, productivity tools, series, virtual teams
Posted in Outsourcing, Productivity Toolkit | 10 Comments »
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
Work-Life balance - the phrase was first heard in the late 1970s, describing the balance between an individual’s work and personal life. Now, almost half a century has passed, and just when the world started believing that the conveniences of modern technology would mean an “easier” life, consumerism and fast-paced competition tipped the scale to the other end. Meaning, more time is needed to work, work, and work. The technological advances of today hasten everything that can possibly happen in 24 hours – e-mails, VoIP calls, SMS. When these breakthroughs were newly introduced, we were amazed and impressed by what fast-paced communication could do! Figuratively speaking, technology made the world smaller, and business opportunities greater. Alas! For many of us now, today’s breakneck speed can only mean tons of work that get piled on us faster and heavier. No wonder why weekend spas and exotic vacation resorts keep calling on us to take “that much-deserved,” or aptly, “that much-needed” break. And when the holiday ends, we all groan at the thought of going back to reality, going back to work. There is no clear-cut definition of what is good and balanced. What is ideal depends on the person’s age, marital status, or domestic situation. Whatever it is, we are all in search of that elusive work-life balance that we read and dream of. We all have our ways and systems in managing and coping. What else haven’t we tried and done?
1. Compartmentalize your day. Many career women have domestic obligations to attend to at the end of the day – husband and kids, ailing parents. Most days, these so-called superwomen find themselves with little superpowers left, even to take care of themselves. Break your 24-hour day into chunks and make sure you stick to the schedule: 8 hours – sleep; 8 hours – day job; 4 hours – for the hubby or the children; 4 hours – me time. Adhere to your time blocks and minimize mix-ups. It’s when we squeeze in work at home, or domestic chores during our personal time that the scales become unbalanced.
2. Be humble enough to know you can’t do it all. It’s when we try to do it ALL, and all at the SAME time, that we get overwhelmed and end up not accomplishing much. Granted, there are tasks that we would rather do ourselves, knowing that no one else can do them better. There are tasks too that we’re afraid to delegate to others, thinking, “If I want it done right, I better do it myself.” Alright, give yourself that. But at the same time, learn to accept and let go – some other tasks can be better done or faster accomplished by other people. Let them.
3. Get good help and delegate. At home, good help can mean an extra pair of hands. At work, good help is taken to mean another head on the shoulders with a working brain to help you think. For both the home and work front, don’t just make do with extra help that you’re unsure of. If you can’t leave your house without fear that it won’t catch fire once you’re gone, or if you can’t leave the office without constantly worrying if he’s doing things right, keep looking for the one that you can confidently bank on.
4. Set a “me” time, and keep it sacred. We all need our personal alone time to recharge our tired selves. Whatever it takes – having a good long nap, taking a road trip down to the valley, or getting lost in a book or a movie. Some people tend to feel guilty while enjoying brief moments of indulgence. Don’t! And some people, as they head on out for that massage appointment, opt to cancel and do more work (goodness gracious!) instead. A bigger don’t! Respect that 2-hour break you set aside for yourself. Put into perspective that in the many on-going things happening in your life, the 2 hours for yourself will not cause your big upcoming deal any harm or delay. Let the other things wait; your 2 hours are due.
5. Simplify your life. As attractive as it may seem to us to take on too many tasks and responsibilities, to try to do too much, and to own too much, find a way to simplify. Make a lifestyle change – say no to some requests, and decline some invitations. Declutter your space, organize your environment, and more importantly, get rid of all those baggage that weigh you down. Focus and prioritize. Keep things simple.
Tags: delegating tasks, productivity tips, time management, work-life balance
Posted in Life Management, Productivity Toolkit | No Comments »
Thursday, August 26th, 2010
If only all of us know how to maximize the hours that we have in a day, we would all be rich—in accomplishments! Being able to produce more output in a day will not only entitle you for a possible promotion (if an office employee) or extra revenue (if working from home or managing your own business). This also gives you an assurance that you made wise use of your time and a sense of pride that you could actually do more and be better every day.
Start with the Tough Ones
Procrastination is your biggest enemy. We tend to push the hard ones out and do the easy or clerical tasks first. When you’ve reached half of the day, you try picking out the hard tasks and finish nothing by the end of the day. Why not reverse this by getting the hardest and usually the most important job done? This works better because you have more focus and energy at the start of the day.
Get your Focus
This is the hardest and most important component. You may have already done a to-do list and you know exactly what to do to be able to deliver. The problem is no matter how hard you try to come up with ideas or compose your thoughts—the light bulb stays busted. To be able to beat this, do a little bit stretching and perhaps sip a cup of coffee. Get some help by browsing online specifically about the task or consulting your colleagues. Make sure to keep this soul-searching period short and particularly about the task at hand. Directing your mind and your actions ONLY to this task will point you towards getting it done fast.
Destruct Distractions
Keeping your IM and e-mail open, especially if notifications from your blogs and social networking accounts are flooding, will eat up your whole day. After all, it’s more fun and exciting to check these out than to continue working on a spreadsheet your boss needs after lunch. While quick peeks during breaks won’t hurt, getting used to these momentary amusements will make you want for more. So better to shut them off altogether or device a rewards system for yourself where you get to check ONLY when you have done such amount of work.
Time-Box
This simply means that you have a mental allocation of number of hours to be spent on a definite task. While you’re at it and you are tempted to daydream or check out the latest Hollywood buzz, check your time. How many more minutes do you have? Time-boxing gives you a positive pressure as you try to beat the self-imposed deadline. Time-boxing also applies to your quick breaks and chit-chat—keep these short so that you don’t lose your momentum.
Know When Your Plate is Full
It’s true that you want to be as effective as you can be but if you flood yourself with so many jobs, you won’t be able to focus and finish a thing. The more tasks you accept, the more people will be bugging you for follow up or feedback and it will be a never-ending cycle. Instead of taking up all these by yourself, why don’t you get someone to help you? Perhaps a sibling on vacation can help but there is also a big risk that this may double up the burden since you’ll have to check and redo if there are mistakes. Professional assistants are available for a cost but the productivity and relief that they provide is all worth it.
Always remember, time wasted is like money thrown to trash. Managing and spending your time well not only frees you from stress, it also works as your personal investment. You may not realize it but making wise use of your time also results to a constructive outlook in life as you continue to pursue and encourage yourself to achieve something all the time. Disciplining yourself to not waste time is the key to improving your work and your being as well.
Tags: how to be efficient, how to be productive, Personal Assistants, productivity, time management, virtual assistant
Posted in Life Management, Productivity Toolkit | 22 Comments »
Thursday, April 29th, 2010
When you think about it, man’s constant desire for better, faster, more has never seemed to die down or change. Back when we all lived in caves, we invented the wheel to go places, carry heavier loads, basically do things faster, better, and more. Today, the “wheels” may have changed, but we find ourselves yet again more than ever concerned with “more”. We want more work done for own various reasons. More money. More free time. More time to spend with the kids. More chances of moving up in the world. Okay. Now that we’ve established our motivation, how in the heck do we increase productivity (whether our own or colleagues’, or employees’)?
Truthfully, there are no hard and fast rules to do this, but the thing to remember is that productivity is very much tied to happiness. It’s been scientifically proven that happy workers are more productive ones. And as blogger Alex Kjerulf explains in his post here, once you start liking what you do and enjoying your work, your productivity will soar.
I’ll even let you in on a personal story. I started out as a marketing assistant at a bank. To say the least, it was painfully boring and mind-numbing, consisting mainly of making phone calls to clients, confirming they were depositing huge sums of money, in amounts I would never make in a lifetime if I stayed there. How do you think that impacted my productivity?
So maybe for the first lesson in productivity, it goes something like this:
Productivity = Happiness + Purpose
Any human being who disagrees with the “purpose” part is either Sisyphus or a hamster. So if your job right now feels like you’re running aimlessly in a hamster wheel, it’s time to seek better employment. But hey, if you’re happy with that sort of thing, that’s your thing. I personally would run amok with an AK-47 and take my colleagues hostage. But that’s just me. That’s why I left the job at the bank after a week.
In a nutshell, to increase your productivity, FIRST, choose the sort of work or place yourself in the sort of industry where you’re more likely to do the work you like. Sounds simple, but soaring numbers of unhappy workers say otherwise.
Pick the work you like, and try to make sure it won’t feel like there’s a solid brick wall ahead or above you. Do some research on the company, organization, and industry you want to work in; talk to people and Google the relevant topics on them.
Maybe that’s all more suited for long-term strategies in upping your productivity. So maybe a “nutshell” type list will help boost your productivity now.
Here are a few tips for increasing productivity on the job:
1. Create a work environment that suits you.
Start with a comfortable chair. But please, not a La-Z-boy. Recliners are for vegetating in front of the TV or sleeping, not working. If you can afford one of those fancy Aeron chairs, go for it. The key is to tailor-fit your workspace into a “mechanism” you like using. Remember, unless you’re as brilliant and aggressive as Richard Branson, you and your workspace will be together for quite some time.
Décor, lighting, and use of space are also important. Some people like a lot of light, some like it dark. Some use a lot of shelf space, others tuck things away. Some people like the whole Scandinavian minimalist thing, others like to be crowded with their books, magazines, CDs, pictures of soon-to-be girlfriends (that’s not me…) and heck, even toys. Use what works for you, just be sure to not encroach on anyone else’s space.
2. Make a list.
Yes, a list. You have one for groceries, you have one for the people you hated in high school and swear vengeance (again that’s just me), so why not one for your day-to-day tasks? Most people take it for granted, but successful people swear by it.
And really, there’s a feeling of satisfaction in ticking off a task you’ve completed by day’s end. Don’t rob yourself of that feeling. And why do you think PDAs come and go, but the good old filofax and note pad are still around? The tools change, but the practice doesn’t. Jot down that list now.
3. Put on a little music.
So long as you’re not operating heavy equipment, play your favorite tunes.
Studies on productivity have confirmed that workers who listen to the music they like increased their work output by at least 10%. No wonder Sony Walkmans have been selling like hotcakes, at least until the iPod came along.
You want more proof? I’m listening to Depeche Mode as I type this. Not exactly happy tunes to work by, but it keeps my motor running. Oh, and if you’re the only one who likes the music you’re listening to, get a great pair of earphones. Not everyone in Accounting might be able to balance the books while It’s No Good is blasting.
4. Take a break when you need it.
Breaks are okay, and the operative words being “when you need it”. To keep your own motor running, take a break away from the keyboard. Breathe. Take a short walk, have a smoke, talk to people, grab a small bite. Breaking the monotony (so long as you’re not in the middle of something) helps to keep your ball rolling.
5. Reward yourself a little, from time to time.
Remember what we said about happiness? It doesn’t have to be something big.
Give yourself a little pat on the back when you’ve finished something or feel you done good at work. Never discount the importance of little rewards, it will actually help you with a little “happiness boost” to tackle the next task. This can be anything from a small treat, new CD or article of clothing, desk toy or that vintage GI Joe figure with the kung-fu grip you always wanted as a kid.
6. Keep your eye on the ball.
Yes, ironically, to keep your ball rolling at work, keep your eye on whatever goal you’ve set for yourself, long-term or short-term. Oh, and make the goal more “life-related”, more personal. “Finishing tax reports before the end of the fiscal year” doesn’t sound nearly as exciting a goal as “finally learning to ski in the Pyrennes”. Literally have a picture or collage of what you’re aiming for right there as a desktop wallpaper or put it in a place where you can see it or easily bring it out and stare at it for a minute or two. This is visualization. (Get a copy of the book The Secret and you’ll see what I mean). It doesn’t matter if it’s a shiny new car, that vacation in the Maldives you’ve always wanted, the home you’ve always dreamed of buying, or even the celebrity you want to abduct date. When it comes to goals, you don’t have to be 100% realistic. What’s important is you get yourself jazzed up about work, and the feeling of wanting to work harder, if not smarter, will follow.
Of course, these are just a few tips on short-term fixes for upping your own productivity, and maybe encouraging other people in your team to be more productive. Start with these tips and you may discover your own methods that will help put you on the path to heightened productivity, which (could) translate to success, peace of mind, and long-term happiness.
Tags: happiness and productivity, how to be happier at work, how to be more productive, music and productivity, personal assistant, productivity, virtual assistant
Posted in Productivity Toolkit | 15 Comments »
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
If you are a Windows Vista user, you’re probably enjoying all the fancy features that are designed for better security and easier use, not to mention the sleek interface, making computer use more enjoyable.
One of its best features is the Windows Sidebar. The Sidebar is a pane on the side of the Microsoft Windows Vista desktop. You can organize your favorite gadgets or applications here, so that they will all be easily available to you anytime.
There are so many gadgets to choose from. If you haven’t fixed up your sidebar, it might be too tasking for you to go through all of it and choose the ones you can benefit from.
To make it easy for you, we have chosen the most useful Vista Gadget Tools from the list.
Here you go…
1. RD Safely
The RD Safely gadget makes it possible to easily disconnect your usb, SATA, eSATA drives.
2. Minimize
This Vista Gadget allows you to minimize all the windows you’re working on quickly and show just the desktop.
3. Drag & Drop and Print
This vista gadget makes it very simple to print a document. You just have to drag and drop the documents that you wish to print.
4. Recent Items
This vista gadget shows a list of your recently accessed items grouped by location. The gadget was designed to maximize screen usage. You can also set the number of items it could show.
5. Password generator
Having trouble creating a secure password? This gadget can help generate random passwords and automatically copy it into the clipboard.
6. Clipboard Manager
Images that we copy or paste are usually stored on clipboards. Copy/Paste or image grabbing can be a tedious task. But with this gadget, you can easily manage your clipboard from the Windows Sidebar. The clipboard manager will allow you to see current clipboard content on the clipboard history.
7. Spell Checker gadget
If you normally get stumped in spelling, the Spell Checker gadget would be really handy for you.
8. µTorrent Stats
For those who usually download large files, this sidebar gadget is very helpful. You can start, pause or stop the torrent easily. Also, you can view stats for each torrent separately.
9. Screen Snaper
This Vista Gadget allows you to capture anything on screen. It can capture full screen, windows or selected objects. It can capture by region too. It can automatically copy images to clipboard and save it. In addition, it can save images in 7 formats: BMP/EMF/GIF/JPG/PNG/TIFF/WMF
10. NetGadget 64-bit
This windows vista gadget monitors your network connections and displays a real-time graph. Click on the graph and you can see your internal IP address, MAC IDs, current connections, and other network information. This is also available for the 32-bit machine.
11. Run
This one is a real timesaver. Just type in the name of a program, folder, document or Internet resource you wish to access and this little gadget will instantly open it for you.
12. Countdown to Anything
This can be both useful and fun. It’s so easy to use too. Just enter the date and the countdown event.
13. The Magic Folder
This is a great organizing tool. The gadget will help you categorize and move files in an organized manner. When you drag a file to the gadget, it will check the file extension and place it where it should fit. Most extension types come pre-registered.
14. CT Control
This sidebar gadget shows the current Time, Date & Uptime of your computer. You can also use it as a stopwatch, alarm or a countdown clock. Plus, you can put your computer on standby, shut it down, restart it or log off using this gadget.
15. Digital World Clock
If you need to constantly check for time on different timezones, this gadget is really practical.
16. Adsense
Monitoring your day’s earning has never been easier. You can quickly check clicks and impressions from your adsense campaigns using this gadget.
17. Twadget
With this vista gadget you can easily keep up with your friends’ status on Twitter and update your own status. No need to log in Twitter!
18. Windows Live Writer
The Windows live writer gadget is designed to make it easy for you to build your article throughout the day. You can open a new blog entry, open a previous blog entry or even have it floating and open from anywhere on your desktop.
19. FTP Access
This gadget will instantly connect you to the ftp server once you enter the required information.
20. App Launcher
This gadget enables you to launch your preferred applications from the Windows Vista Sidebar. Just add files or applications that you frequently use on the gadget and a simple click will automatically launch the program or files.
Hope this makes it easier for you to organize your sidebar. If you find any of the other Vista Gadget Tools useful too, please share it with us through the comments section. ☺
Tags: productivity tools, vista gadgets, Work at home tips
Posted in Business and Marketing, Life Management, Productivity Toolkit, Uncategorized | 16 Comments »
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
If you’re a freelancer or a small business owner, it is important to know what business-building resources are available to you with little or no budget at all.
If you don’t know where to start, here are some recommendations…
Besides the homepage gadgets, Google offers free services that can help boost your company’s productivity and grow your business.
Here are some free Google services…
1. Google Alerts
If you can’t afford to get your own researcher for the meantime, this is really a convenient service to have.
Google Alerts can help you monitor news, blog articles, videos or any other web published materials about your product, your competitor or your industry.
You can also stay on top of the latest events and keep tabs on your personal interests like sports, celebrity news etc.
Alerts can be sent through your email or posted on your feeds tab in your homepage.
2. Google Analytics
Through this free Google service, you can optimize your website, conduct split tests and boost your sales.
The service provides advanced segmentation or analytical interpretation of your website’s traffic with an interactive segment builder.
You can also generate custom reports by using the drag and drop interface to view all the information the way you want to.
Simply put, this web analytics solution gives you accurate information on your website traffic and marketing effectiveness.
Google Analytics is a really powerful tool that is easy-to-use. Its features can help analyze traffic data in different ways. It can help guide you in creating better-targeted ads to increase your sales and ultimately give you a higher converting website.
3. Gmail
If you haven’t tried Gmail and you’re interested in using Google Analytics or Google Alerts, then you need to sign up for Gmail ☺
You can set up your Gmail to be as functional as your Outlook or whatever email software you use. Here are some cool Gmail features that you can check out.
• Email management
If you have a Gmail account, you can make use of that account to manage several email accounts. Here’s how…
Click on Settings > Accounts > Get mail from other accounts (then add the email account/s)
Also you can set it up so you’re able to reply to emails using your other accounts. Just follow these steps…
Settings > Account > Send mail as (then add the email account/s)
• Google Calendar
This feature serves the same functions as your email software calendars. You can set up appointments, manage invites and even share your calendar simply by adding emails that would have access to the calendar.
You can sync your Google calendar to your Outlook or if you’re using a Mac, you can sync it to your iCal.
• Google Labs
Inside Gmail are some really cool features that you can enable on your account.
Just a couple of brilliant tools you can add are text messaging through Gtalk for free (available to US numbers only) and offline access.
4. Google Reader
This service allows you to keep up with your favorite websites by accessing and reading them in one place, making it as easy as checking your email.
You can spend less time browsing for updates; instead you can scan through them on one page and just read through the important stuff.
5. Google Docs
The Documents feature on Gmail is also very handy. When you create documents here, you can:
• Share the documents and do edits simultaneously with other people you have shared the document with. Edits are shown in real time.
• You can also email the document as an attachment.
• And publish it as a webpage
I’m sure you can’t wait to explore these Google services and see how it can help build your business. ☺
Tags: free resources online services, Google Services, home business tips, online help, productivity tips, productivity tools
Posted in Business and Marketing, Productivity Toolkit | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
It doesn’t matter whether you’re an employee, a business owner, a student or a stay at home parent, life just has too many demands and we all struggle to accomplish as much as we can throughout the day.
When you go online you would want to get as much done in as little time as possible. There are many free online gadgets available that could help.
Personally I’ve been using some cool Google gadgets & services.
You can start being productive the moment you turn on your browser. By customizing your homepage you’ll have instant access to whatever you need.
iGoogle has a wide array of free gadgets that are easy to use and manage.
Here are a few iGoogle Gadgets that I find extremely helpful…
1. To-Do List
You can download this gadget and place it where your eyes can instantly see it once you open your browser. This way when you go online you can start focusing on the task you really need to accomplish for that day. You can also print and email your list.
2. iReminder
You can set alerts or reminders throughout the day. A real practical gadget especially since we can sometimes lose track of time while working.
3. World Clocks
If you need to keep track of several time zones to manage your appointments or meetings, this tool is really handy. You can modify each clock according to the time zones you need to keep track of.
4. Timesheet helper
This is especially helpful for freelancers. This can help track time and schedules.
5. Sticky Note
Just like your regular sticky notes, you can use this to jot down ideas or stuff you need to remember. I write on my sticky notes throughout the day. I put links or resources I was able to find or ideas or things I need to add on my next day’s “to-do” list.
There are several other iGoogle Gadgets that you can choose from and add to your homepage. You can add Date & Time, Facebook gadget and several others that you think would be handy to have there.
In addition, it also helps to customize the news links to your homepage. You can choose only the ones that you find relevant. This eliminates wasting time surfing the Internet for news and information that you regularly need to be updated with.
If you’re using another portal, like Yahoo, MSN, etc. you can check out the tools they offer that will suit your homepage needs.
If you have other great suggestions, let us know by putting in the comments section below.
Tags: iGoogle, iGoogle Gadget, productivity tools, Work at home tips
Posted in Productivity Toolkit | 1 Comment »
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