Use Plaxo To Sync Your Life

By Jon:

Recently I became incredibly frustrated because I'm using multiple computers and a cell phone to stay in sync with my life. However, those devices weren't syncing with each other, leaving me forced to check in on multiple machines and lose productivity. I found a solution with Plaxo.

Signup for a free account and you'll be offered a plethora of feeds and apps to sync with. Plaxo will manage and merge your various and sundry contact lists into one manageable (and easily sync-able) list. Here's a quick list of some of the contact accounts Plaxo works with:

• Google Apps (Calendar and Gmail)
• Microsoft Outlook
• Apple's Mail.app
• Yahoo!
• Mozilla Thunderbird
• Windows Mail /Windows Live (Hotmail)
• Windows Mobile
• LinkedIn

For mail syncing, you'll need to download and launch the Plaxo app, which will live sync your contacts and calendar. This is amazing -- I can literally add a calendar item on my PC, and moments later my Mac alerts me (via Growl) that I've got a new calendar item from Plaxo. It is blazing fast.

When working with contacts, Plaxo is also amazing. I receive a weekly digest from Plaxo which shows me what my contacts have been up to. Often, I'll see a new Plaxo contact in the list, letting me know that one of my friends has joined Plaxo. How cool is that? Gone are the days of inviting a friend to a new app and then waiting to connect with them. Plaxo is smart enough to know that I already know an individual and connect us right away.

As it stands right now, Plaxo has found 160 people I could potentially connect with around various social networking sites. And that's just one more thing Plaxo is amazing at -- syncing with other sites. Here's a list of some of the sites Plaxo connects with:

• Flickr
• Twitter
• Blogger
• LiveJournal
• Facebook
• MySpace
• Tumblr
• Xanga
• Digg
• Google Reader
• Last.FM
• iLike
• YouTube
• Vimeo
• Dozens more

Thanks to Plaxo, I no longer have to chase down what my friends are doing -- Plaxo brings it to me. I can access a friend's Plaxo page and get an overview of all the above networks and their interaction with them. Further than that, Plaxo can deliver that content to me via Growl or other notification apps, however I choose. Oh, and m.plaxo.com is pretty cool for mobile access, too.

Now I'm constantly connected and synced up wherever I go and whatever I'm doing. I'm able to remember my meeting times, people's birthdays, and more. How has Plaxo helped you?

RSS Feeds: Embrace A Low Information Diet

By Matt:

I glanced at the Trends report in my Google Reader a few days ago: 130 feed subscriptions; 1,121 unread items.

I have no intention to read all of these items, and that does not stress me out.

Every few days I glance through outstanding posts in key categories and review a handful of them. I focus on my friend's blogs, blogs that will help me advance personally / professionally, and key blogs for networking purposes. Everything else... "Mark All As Read".

Just do it and be done with it. You can't try to consume everything. Make decisions on the front end about where your priority sources of consumption come from (your subscriptions), and then within those sources pick and choose what you're going to spend the time to read.

In a high information world it is impossible to consume all of the available knowledge. But if you define your priorities and act deliberately when choosing what to read, you take the stress out of information consumption. Sometimes it is best to admit defeat; embrace a low information diet and never again feel the compulsion to read all of your RSS feeds.

Hack Your Desk Phone With A Relevant Voicemail Greeting

By Matt:

Last month Jon offered some tips regarding how he uses his desk phone at work (or better, how he doesn't use it). Personally, I don't care to leave the "Send Calls" button on permanently and opt instead to decide on a case by case basis whether or not the call needs to be answered, but I'll let you review his post and decide for yourself.

Today, however, I want to tell you how I recently improved my office phone voicemail greeting that I implemented to cut down on voicemails and increase efficiency by redirecting traffic to my email. This is my new greeting...

Hi this is Matt. The best way to reach me is by email at myemail@mydomain.com. If you have an urgent need you can call my cell phone at ###-####. If you would like to leave a voicemail here, you may do so after the tone.

On the surface this doesn't sound too earth shattering, so let's break it down:

• First, I tell people that the best way to reach me is by email. This communicates the most appropriate way to garner my attention and solicit a quick response. Why email? Text based emails are easy to process and give colleagues the opportunity to outline their issues and needs, going into as much or as little detail as necessary. A voicemail on the other hand is a crapshoot - you never know what you'll get, and more often than not it ends up as a rambling six minute message that goes into excruciating detail, which you then have to listen to four times because the caller talks too fast, or mumbles, or is drowned out by the sound of an electric bandsaw from the construction next door.

• Next I explain that if they have an urgent need they can call my cell phone. This sounds like I'm simply inviting more phone calls, but I'm not. This is really a redirect - the phrase urgent need forces the caller to make a value judgement: "Is my need urgent?" I wager that most people will consider their needs important, but not urgent, and therefore will not call my cell but send an email instead. This option is comforting to the caller though; they aren't merely left to send a faceless email but instead have my mobile number at their disposal which in effect makes me appear even more available if a situation does arise.

• Finally, I offer the opportunity to leave a voicemail at my desk phone. Sometimes people just want to leave a message, and while this isn't ideal for me, my desk phone is ultimately my responsibility. I give this as the last option for a couple reasons, which leaves the caller with two impressions: 1) That this is not the best method to reach me, and 2) By leaving a message the caller must concede that what he has to convey is really not that important, and that to escalate his need he should (you guessed it) send me an email.

To be clear, this is not some lame attempt to avoid interaction with people. I do some of my best work by walking around the office talking to people, but if I'm in the midst of plowing through critical tasks I do everyone a disservice in taking time to field random phone calls. Also, as a person who is susceptible to a high degree of meetings, this method minimizes the instances where I come back to the desk with a boat load of time-waster voicemails.

Take charge of your phone and don't let the blinking red light rule your life. By filtering incoming calls with a relevant voicemail greeting you empower both yourself and your colleagues to get more done.

Clean Your Desktop

By Matt:

I'll often glance over at a colleague's laptop during a meeting and see a desktop that is cluttered to the max with folders, files, icons, and various shortcuts. A typical desktop can fit up to 10 icons vertically and 15 horizontally... that's 150 icons on the desktop! It's hard to make out that pretty picture of the tropical beach you have as your desktop wallpaper when you have that many icons taking up space!

If you're this person who, for reasons I'm sure seem logical, keeps 150 icons on your desktop, I want to suggest the following desktop overhaul.

Many people use their desktop as their launching point, and for good reason - it's convenient and centrally located. But this efficiency is completely lost when you store too many items there. It becomes impossible to quickly navigate to the files and folders you want because you spend so much time manually sifting through the clutter. Here's how to increase your efficiency by removing up to 95% of your desktop icons:


Create A Current Files Folder
Navigate to your My Documents folder (or similar location) and create a folder simply called 'Current Files'. Next make a shortcut to this folder and place it on your desktop - yes, this is one icon that you actually get to keep.

Next do some serious housecleaning. Move every document, spreadsheet, picture, and video file currently sitting on your desktop into the newly created 'Current Files' folder. Anything that is an actual file, or a folder containing multiple filesm must go... don't worry about organization, you can take care of that later. At this point all that should remain on your desktop are your icons for My Computer, My Documents, Recycle Bin, and shortcut icons.


Cut Your Shortcuts
Now I want you to take a critical look at your desktop shortcuts. Shortcut icons include any quick-link that points to a file, a folder, a network drive, an application, or an online destination. I will venture to guess that most of these shortcuts do not get used during any given week, but there will likely be a couple key shortcuts that get used multiple times a day.

As you did for your files, create another folder in My Documents for 'Shortcuts', and again create a desktop shortcut for this folder. Next, move any shortcut that gets used less than five times per week into this new folder. If any of your shortcuts are outdated and never get used delete them. If you have shortcuts that point to a website, I suggest you move these to your internet browser - create a bookmark for them, or better yet, use a social bookmarking tool like del.icio.us.

You should move all application shortcuts - shortcuts that launch a program - to this folder. The exception to this rule are application shortcuts that are used multiple times per day; drag these key icons into your Taskbar to automatically create quick-launch buttons.

In terms of shortcuts, all that should remain on your desktop are high traffic shortcuts that point to critical and often-used files, folders, or network drives.


Analyze
The key to a clean desktop is that it becomes an efficient workplace - a launching zone from which you do your work. Consider these tips for keeping your desktop in prime working condition:

• Save new files and downloads that you'll be working on to your 'Current Files' folder to keep the desktop clean.
• Make use of the ability to filter in your 'Current Files' folder and sort by name, date, and file type... remember that you wouldn't be able to do this on your desktop.
  
• If you find that a certain shortcut icon is not getting traffic, remove it from the equation by demoting it to the 'Shortcuts' folder. Likewise, if you are having to dig through your 'Shortcuts' folder multiples times per day to find a specific icon, elevate it to your desktop.
  
• Periodically archive files in your 'Current Files' folder as they become dated and obsolete by moving them to an appropriate folder elsewhere on your hard-drive.
  

And Just For The Record
I have a nice 17" widescreen laptop as my personal computer, and as such can fit as many as 209 icons on my desktop. However, using the steps above I keep this whittled down to just five icons, and as a result maintain my sanity. Plus for all you tweakers, a clean desktop uses less RAM than one covered with icons.

In addition to My Computer, My Documents, and Recycle Bin, I also keep a 'Current Files' folder and a shortcut to a folder for 'The Corporate Hack' on my desktop. This method, partnered with Google Desktop as a hard-drive search tool, are all I need to keep every file I might desire at my fingertips.

To be clear - you cannot remove unwanted desktop icons by sticking your Macbook in the dishwasher. We want to hear additional tips you have have on making your computer desktop an efficient workplace - leave a comment below! Good luck with the cleaning!

Use Summarize To Get To The Point

By Jon:

DISCLAIMER: This is a function for Apple users only. I know, I know, I use a PC at work too, but this is so cool I had to share it with you.

Have you ever received an email or been passed along an article that you're encouraged to read, only to find that it's 16 paragraphs of solid text? Rather than spend twenty minutes digging through this text, a hidden but incredibly valuable tool can help you get right to business.

The app is called Summarize, and it's normally located in the Services menu of any Apple app you may have. It's also located in the Services folder of your Library for quick access. Personally, I use it in conjunction with Quicksilver, so I'll be sure to explain that incredible app in a future post.

Here's what you do:

Select a block of text in an email, a website, or a document, then access the Summarize function. It'll pop up this display (I've selected a recent post of ours as an example):

As you can see, I've got the slider set to 100% and the whole article is displayed. Let's drag the slider down to, say, 4 sentences.

As you can see, it's pulled out 4 unique and important pieces of info from this post; this gives us a general idea of what the post is about and what it's explaining. Turns out Apple uses an algorithm to deduce how often this sentence is referenced (or how unique it is) and how important it is to the overall structure of the piece. Fancy.

Now let's drill it down to just one sentence:

A-ha! This is a one sentence summary of what the post is going to be about -- unconventional directions.

This might seem a little confusing at first, so I'll toggle over to paragraphs for a little more clarity:

Interesting. The article is teaching me how to find directions based upon the sun. The summary also includes the caveat paragraph, good if I don't live in the Northern hemisphere.

This is just an example, but I've seen this get used to great result with company emails, presentations and other corporate memos. If I just don't have time to read something, I'll fire this up and get to the heart of it immediately.

Fighting Procrastination: Just Do It

By Jon:

I am an incredible procrastinator. The Internet is my best friend: Wikipedia, Flash games, message-boards, Google Reader, and on from there.... The Internet is filled with things that take my attention and time. I have to try incredibly hard to get over procrastination, and when I do, I'm stuck looking at a pile of e-mails, tasks, and things I should do "if I had the time."

The "Just Do It" concept [thank you Nike] hit me pretty hard one day when it finally clicked: nearly all my tasks, e-mails and thoughts don't take long at all to do. Cleaning up my inbox or cleaning up my office each take about 15 minutes if I focus and just do it. I used to spend fifteen minutes worrying about my task list and that I'd never get it done, and now in that time I can mark several items off.

Just doing something is considerably harder if you don't have a plan, though. Most of my e-mails are requests to do something, be it pulling a report or checking on something. I capture all those items into Todoist, my GTD app of choice. It allows me a simple and efficient layout that lets me focus more on the tasks than on the organization of the tasks themselves.

On these thoughts, here are some points that I've taken to heart:

• Doing something is often just as easy as worrying about doing something
• Looking at something twice is half as efficient as looking at it once and taking care of it
• Don't check your e-mail/tasks, process them
  

I'll leave you with this: Merlin Mann, creator of the 43 Folders site and organizational guru, has a brilliant effort he's pushing called Inbox Zero. A while back, he spoke at Google and laid out some great details and concepts. Here's the video:

The Power Of The 80/20: Stop Working So Hard

By Matt & Jon:

We were thrilled to write a guest post for Monica over at The Twenty Set to discuss the ins and the outs of productivity, and the lessons to be learned from the magnificent bell curve....

Confession #1: We're kind of obsessed with the concept of productivity. Confession #2: At work we play this obsession off as a means to get more things done, but in truth we don't want more things to do anymore than the next person... we leverage productivity to focus on the things that truly matter, and eliminate the rest.... [READ MORE HERE]

Drop by her page and let us know if you agree with anything we say, or if you think we've lost our heads. And thanks Monica for the opportunity to contribute!

The Power Of The 80/20: Stop Working So Hard

Hack Your Expense Reports While Traveling

By Matt:

I hate expense reports as much as the next hack, and I absolutely despise trying to keep track of all my expenses when I'm traveling. Keeping track of hotel receipts, eating out, and toll-road fees, all while lugging my possessions for the week around on a wobbly-little two wheeled suitcase in a city I don't know is almost too much to deal with.

So how do you hack your expense reports?

Step 1: Prepare. Well first you need an organizational system for all the receipts you get. Before you leave on the trip grab an empty letter-sized envelope. Label it if you want - "Receipts" - and place it in a bag that you are going to have on you at all times, like your laptop bag, or your purse, or a backpack. NOT your suitcase - that's going to sit in a hotel most of the time. Sometimes the hardest part of doing expense reports is finding all the receipts once you get back - now you have a place to put them.

Step 2: Collect diligently. Every time you buy something - whether it's food or taxi fares - immediately put the receipt in the envelope. Make sure you get a receipt whenever you buy something. Taxi drivers, toll-booth operators, and valets can all generally provide receipts - ask for it, even if it takes a couple extra minutes, and it will save you from headaches explaining things away later. Finally, if the reciept you get is a little vague, "tag" it on the back by notating it as food, or parking, or tolls, etc.

Step 3: Expedite. When you get back home, do your expense report as soon as possible... just block out 30 minutes of your day and get it done. It's a pain, but if you've been diligent about filing and cataloging all your receipts, it should be a breeze.

My company is incredibly strict about how expense reports are done (I've been chastised for putting staples in the wrong corner), and before I had a method of collecting receipts I couldn't keep track of anything... I can't tell you how many times I've been on the phone with hotels asking them to fax me copies of my receipts. Expense reports are certainly not the most exciting activity in the world, but hopefully these tips will take some of the pain out of your next one.

GTD 101: A Brief Overview Of Getting Things Done

By Matt & Jon:

Through the life of this blog productivity and efficiency are bound to be of major focus, and any study of these concepts would not be complete without a working knowledge of the method of GTD, or "Getting Things Done". In fact, some would say it would be futile.

We're not about to do a detailed analysis of GTD in this post... we'll get into some of the finer points in future posts, and there are already plenty of great resources out on the great interwebs that can go through all the various ins and outs. But, if you are completely new to GTD, here's what you need to know to get started:

Definition:
GTD is an "action management method," created by productivity consultant David Allen. At the heart of the GTD philosophy is the mindset that a person will be most productive by moving tasks out of the mind and recording them somewhere. By doing this our brains are freed from the burden of remembering all sorts of detailed minutia, and can instead focus on doing actual tasks and, you guessed it, getting things done.

Resources:
To read up on the method, check out these links below and absorb yourself in endless hours of reading material... not while you're at work though (ok, maybe while you're at work):

• Getting Things Done - Wikipedia Article (good for a broad overview)
• David Allen Company Website - Creator of GTD
  
• Lifehacker - A GTD-minded, tech-oriented blog
  
• 43 Folders - GTD Overview - Another driving force in the world of GTD
  

Culture:
In the years since GTD first made its public appearance, an entire culture of all-things-productivity seemingly came out of the woodwork: Merlin Mann introduced his hipster PDA, Moleskine journals became the new Trapper Keeper, Lifehacker and other GTD-minded blogs emerged, and productivity web-apps like Remember the Milk began to proliferate.

It won't be our goal to become the be-all end-all resource on GTD, but we'll do our best to keep you up to speed on the latest trends, and hopefully as a result, help you be more productive.

How We Use GTD:
GTD is core to how we ride here at Corporate Hack. Sure we're sarcastic and don't take work all too seriously, but it's because we take GTD very seriously... it helps us prioritize and categorize so we don't have to spend endless days running around worrying about things that don't matter.

At the same time everyone implements GTD in unique and different ways, often using a kitset approach. In coming weeks we'll post on some of the personal ways we get things done, and will be sure to provide links here below for future reference.

:: How Jon Get's Things Done ::
Meta-Productivity


:: How Matt Get's Things Done ::
Action Oriented: Create Meaningful To-Do Items
How To Capture Your Life
The Simple Beauty Of A .TXT

Spring Cleaning 2008: Shredding Your Life

By Jon:

As tax time rolls around yet again this year, it came time for me to evaluate my filing cabinet and documents I keep on hand. If you're like me, you tend to keep anything and everything, just in case.

I literally filled up a filing cabinet in 2007, and once I had done my taxes, I realized only one folder's worth of this data was worth keeping. It was time for a shred party. Here are some guidelines I setup to help me know what to keep and what to hide from the IRS shred.

First, I organized things into three simple groups.

Do Not Shred
These are things I pulled out and scanned copies of, but did not shred. These are things that should NOT be shredded for any reason, and should go into a safety deposit box in a bank off-site from my personal records. They include:

▪ Marriage license
▪ Mortgage paperwork
▪ Car title
▪ 2007 and 2006 tax returns, along with all documentation that supports them

Scan and Shred
A small list, actually. This is mostly year end statements or final statements that frees me from keeping anything else. Us pack-rats need to keep the clutter somewhere, so why not a digital copy that won't jam up my filing cabinet?

▪ Loan data (payoff notices, year end totals, tax details)
▪ Car payments (payoff notice)
▪ Bank records (year end statements, interest details, credit card contracts, 401k and IRA)
▪ Insurance (policy records)

Slash and Burn
Finally, I'm left with a huge pile of crap: everything I kept but have no need for after the end of 2007. All this stuff went straight to shred city:

▪ Utility bills
▪ Monthly bank statements
▪ Old pay stubs (remember, the year end data is saved with my tax records)
▪ Loan records (since most are paid off, and a payoff notice is on file)
▪ ...Everything else

I've moved a lot of our monthly mail to online only notifications and all of our bills to auto bill or auto bank pay. It's just saving trees and valuable space in our house. Most of this information is needed only in case of something big happening (i.e., last paycheck and utility bill needed for address verification on a new loan), and we're not doing that anytime soon. I realized that we just don't need to keep it.

Here's the best part. I got all that sorted out into a big pile and flipped the shredder on. I've got about half a garbage bag full when all of a sudden, the shredder heats up and just stops working. This was two days ago, and it hasn't shredded another inch since. The thing was brand new! I just bought it the day I needed it... because my old shredder died, too.

Meta-Productivity

By Jon:

The productivity gurus over at lifehack.org have assembled a list of 50 items to help you be more productive. That sounds pretty daunting, and well, it is. However, it's a pretty exhaustive list that details the high points from most productivity experts, including GTD, 4-Hour Workweek, Merlin Mann/43 Folders, 7 Habits, and on and on from there.

Lifehack's 50 Tricks to GTD More Productively